James Harden has been fined $100,000 by the NBA for calling Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey “a liar” during his Adidas tour in China, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Harden has requested a trade from the Sixers and no longer has a relationship with Morey.
Harden is unhappy with Morey over the lack of a long-term maximum-level contract offer this summer. The 10-time NBA All-Star called the exec a liar since he wasn’t traded quickly after opting into his 2023-24 player option.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Daryl Morey & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
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 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 Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Harden will never play for the Sixers again and has no plans of taking part in training camp if he’s still on the team.
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 3 and 86.7% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in assists per game for the second time in his career.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: James Harden, Daryl Morey & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
If Harden isn’t traded before training camp starts and he holds out for more than 30 days, the Sixers can prevent him from entering free agency in the summer of 2024, according to NBA insider Zach Lowe of ESPN. Since Harden is in the final year of his contract, different NBA holdout rules would apply to him if he decided not to report to training camp and play.
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