It is deja vu all over again for the Philadelphia 76ers, as another All-Star playmaker no-showed to media day for the second time in three years. Back in 2021 Ben Simmons did not show up for Media Day and then sat out until he was ultimately traded for, ironically, the current star who no-showed media day in 2023: James Harden. The situations are not exactly the same, but for the Philadelphia fans, front office and most importantly, its MVP Joel Embiid, they all have to be shaking their collective heads in disbelief that this is happening again for the second time. So, what is next for Harden and Philadelphia?
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The backstory here for Harden and his negative relationship with Philadelphia goes back to last season when he set up his contract to help the team sign additional free agents, giving the team more depth for a championship run. He took less money, expecting to be taken care of on the back end. Harden then requested a trade, opted into his current player option and is now publicly holding out from the team at this moment.
For Philadelphia, this goes deeper with President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, who has been Harden’s No. 1 fan, supporter and legacy builder. Morey traded for Harden in 2012, building rosters that facilitated Harden’s 2017-2018 MVP season, $280 million in salary and the most successful seasons of his career.Â
Morey all but wore a cheerleader outfit and waved pom poms for Harden for over a decade.
There is clearly a divide between the two sides when it comes to what comes next with Harden wanting to move on from Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, new head coach Nick Nurse and the rest of the roster.
What comes next? For Philadelphia, it has to be the best possible move to maximize the prime of Embiid’s career. That isn’t a slight to Harden, but in the end this franchise hinges on the big fella’s happiness and ability to win in Philadelphia.
Teams like the Los Angeles Clippers can offer the bare minimum packages of matching contracts, fringe rotation players that will not move the needle for Philadelphia to truly contend for a championship this season.
Looking at the market for Harden, with his contract, skill set and expectations of an extension, the field of teams making good faith offers is thin. Harden makes sense for a team like the Clippers and the Miami Heat (who missed out on Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday).
Other teams like the Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and the Toronto Raptors could be sleeper trade candidates, who are trying to speed up their process or third teams looking to reset their futures in a potential Harden trade.
This summer the Milwaukee Bucks made the biggest splash, exchanging Holiday and Grayson Allen for Lillard and Cameron Payne. In that same move the Boston Celtics brought in Holiday, while also adding Kristaps Porzingas.Â
Philadelphia cannot start the season with less than a star player coming in for Harden. Embiid is an elite, first team All-NBA player. Maxey is on the rise as a playmaker. Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton are very good role players and defenders. But in this league where contending teams all have multiple current or recent All-Stars, not having a player like Harden or one of his caliber could be the difference between contending for the NBA Championship and the Play-In Tournament.
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