James Harden’s camp told the Philadelphia 76ers they’d put them in some pain after the franchise ended trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Harden calling president Daryl Morey a liar is just the beginning of what he’s going to do to make the Sixers uncomfortable. The former NBA MVP wants the Sixers to trade him to the Clippers and he’s willing to go to great lengths to make sure Philadelphia doesn’t bring him to training camp.
“When James Harden and his agents were informed over the weekend that they were not going to continue with trade talks, that Philadelphia was going to shut that down, you can imagine he was very upset,” Windhorst said on Get Up. “It was communicated to the Sixers that they were going to put them in some pain as a result of this. That’s what James Harden did with those comments on Monday morning in China. He put the Sixers in some pain.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
“My guess is he may not be done with it. There may be other opportunities for him to really squeeze the Sixers to try to make them to reconsider this position. I think his frustration is that they won’t trade him. He understood that his contract wasn’t going to be extended there. In lieu of that, he wanted to get traded. When that didn’t happen, obviously you can see he’s lashing out. Unfortunately, the situation has really deteriorated from what I’ve been told.”
Harden is unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term maximum-level contract offer this summer. The 10-time NBA All-Star has requested a trade from the Sixers and only wants to get traded to the Clippers.
The Sixers have ended trade talks involving Harden and plan to bring him back to training camp for the start of next season, setting up an uncomfortable situation. Philadelphia had periodic trade conversations with the Clippers, Harden’s desired trade destination, but no traction on a deal materialized.
The Sixers agreed to search out a trade upon Harden’s request after he agreed to pick up his $35.6 million player option for next season in June. However, Philadelphia’s asking price for Harden was steep and no teams, including the Clippers, were willing or able to meet it. The Sixers believe they will be a championship contender with Harden’s return alongside Joel Embiid and the team is determined to find a way to make it work with Harden next season.
However, according to NBA insider Sam Amick of The Athletic, Harden no longer wants to play for the Sixers and has no plans of taking part in training camp. The Beard requested trades from the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets and got traded by both franchises.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
In 58 games for the Sixers last season, Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists while shooting 44.1% from the field, 38.5% from beyond the arc and 86.7% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in assists per game for the second time in his career.
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