If James Harden isn’t traded before training camp starts and the 2017-18 NBA MVP holds out for more than 30 days, the Philadelphia 76ers can prevent him from entering free agency in the summer of 2024, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.
Harden has requested a trade from the Sixers, but the franchise doesn’t have to honor the trade request since the star guard doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract. Since Harden is in the final year of his contract, different holdout rules would apply to him if he decided not to report to training camp and play.
“A separate clause in the CBA — which existed in prior versions of the agreement — holds that any player who ‘withholds playing services for more than 30 days after the start of the last season covered by his contract’ could be deemed to have violated his contract and prohibited from entering free agency or signing with ‘any other professional basketball team unless and until the team with which the player last played expressly agrees otherwise.’
“The rule allows incumbent teams to block any player deemed in violation from entering free agency and signing elsewhere — including with professional teams outside the NBA, league sources confirmed to ESPN,” Lowe wrote.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
Harden wants Philly to trade him to the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden’s relationship with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is “fractured.” Morey and Harden used to be very close. They worked together on the Houston Rockets and were reunited in Philadelphia after Morey traded for Harden from the Brooklyn Nets.
However, Harden is extremely upset at the way in which Morey handled his possible free agency and has made his dissatisfaction clear by requesting a trade.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
Harden is expected to report to training camp if the Sixers don’t trade him, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. The future Hall of Famer requested trades from the Rockets and Nets and got traded both times.
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