​
**Back in the days of the Ben Simmons hold out** and trade demand Daryl Morey was almost universally accused of having unreasonable trade expectations in return for Ben Simmons. I tend to think it was largely true back then because Morey’s plan was pretty clearly to pursue only James Harden in return for Ben Simmons.
It was rumored for example that he had realistic return possibilities in trade discussions with Sacramento but that instead of a more reasonable demand at the time such as either Haliburton or Fox Morey outrageously demanded both Haliburton or Fox. Now of course Ben Simmons wouldn’t fetch either of those players straight up.
So what about now with the James Harden trade demand maybe-soon-to-be-hold-out?
**Is Morey again unreasonable?** I’d argue, not so much this time.
If you listen closely it sounds like DM has already accepted that the return for Harden can be something less an ***all star*** per say.
[**https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/sixers-daryl-morey-lays-out-what-he-expects-back-in-harden-trade-good-luck-with-that**](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/sixers-daryl-morey-lays-out-what-he-expects-back-in-harden-trade-good-luck-with-that)
>*“James is a* ***very good player****. Right now, unfortunately, he does prefer to be somewhere else. I do have a long relationship with him, and I am attempting to honor that. If we do look at a trade, it will be for one of two things. Either* ***a player who helps us be right there like we were last year****. Up 3-2 on one of the best teams in the East, the Celtics. Obviously, we didn’t get it done, but James is one of the reasons we were up 3-2.*
*“Or we are going to do it where we get* ***enough draft picks so we can turn those into a player who can be a running mate with Joel****. If we don’t get either* ***a very good player*** *or* ***something we can turn into a very good player,*** *then we will just not do it. If James were to turn his mind around, we would all be thrilled. But he prefers to be traded now, and we are attempting to honor that.”*
Daryl Morey seems perfectly rational and reasonable if you take those public statements at face value on his Harden trade expectations.
**Let’s make Morey’s case for Harden’s trade value** this season:
* Harden was very much a borderline all star last season, according to reports even turning down an opportunity to make all star as an injury substitute.
* Harden led the league in assists. Uh, Harden **led the league in assists**!
* As Morey stated its true ***James is one of the reasons we were up 3-2 on the Celtics*** in the playoffs. He’s also one of the reasons they didn’t past the Celtics but its true, with Harden they were *right there*.
* James Harden averaged 21.0 points, 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 58 games in 2022-23.
* Yes Harden is 33 but he’s not 36 like Danny Green or 35 like Steph Curry or 38 like PJ Tucker or Lebron James. He played a pretty much healthy last season without excessive downtime and he was there for the playoff run, healthier in fact than Embiid I’d say by the end.
Of course you can make the opposing case, you’re trading for 1 year but then that 1 year puts the team in position to get the rest of his career.
He could well have a couple of strong years left without needed to be “Houston Harden”.
This next year will clearly be the youngest Harden the league will ever see again.
The biggest issue Morey and the Sixers have is how **Harden, like Lillard has pulled down his own trade value by OPENLY forcing the Sixers to deal with only 1 team**, leaving the franchise with no leverage. He could have kept this destination target mostly private but his team basically has shouted to the world. So why should the LAC offer a fair deal when there is no competition?
Unless Harden and his team get involved and push LAC or his desired team to make a fair deal, **Morey has nothing to lose by sitting on Harden until at least the TDL and even for the entire season** because either way he’s being forced to settle for cap space next season as his highest yield potential vs accepting a weak trade.
by VeterinarianAbject85
15 Comments
He wants Paul George. I have a feeling it’s going to come out that Clippers did in fact offer a very reasonable deal that Morey rejected.
This is Daryl Morey we’re talking, when has this guy ever negotiated in good faith?
Harden himself set his trade value when he opted in, essentially pricing himself out of any reasonable trade.
Hard to say until he’s actually traded. There’s only one guy of a comparable talent level on the trade market and he’s not on an expiring. The only thing I don’t understand is what team is gonna put multiple firsts on the table for an older player on a one year deal, especially if Morey’s goal is to maintain cap space for next offseason. Seems like taking on a Norm Powell contract is exactly the type of compromise you make to get the extra first out of a trade partner
the ‘Harden led the league in assists!’ thing is basically worthless when trying to determine how other teams value him and it’s funny whenever it’s brought up as if it’s a serious talking point in trade negotiations or something. for the record, he actually didn’t lead the league in assists, he led them on a per game basis (Jokic and Young had more raw assists). Other recent per game assist leaders include CP3 and Westbrook, and no one in their right mind would classify them as high-end drivers of NBA offenses at this point in their careers, or even the off-seasons after they held that title
Is anyone else just so sick of this crap that it’s negatively influencing how much you care about this season/team?
As a fan of the 76ers and not specifically James Harden, I would be offended if the GM of my team took a lesser return in a trade. His obligation is to right by the Philadelphia 76ers and do what’s best for the organization.
I couldn’t care less if public opinion is that he’s being “unreasonable”.
The idea that a GM is obligated to try and please any individual player makes me laugh. I sure as hell hope my team is trying to win trades and get the best possible return.
Wall of text for it not mattering in the first place.
Morey wants a 35m max next offseason and then to sign Maxey with bird rights. A trade would prohibit enough money coming off the books for any of that to happen. Unless someone blew his socks off with an offer Harden wasn’t going anywhere. ^(same with tobi)
Morey’s job is to get the best deal possible for his team. But I would advise against granting too much weight to what is said publicly. That’s all part of negotiation. The real deal will happen behind the scenes, where the tone is likely quite different.
As someone who purchased a Harden Sixers jersey during the playoffs, I’m sad on so many fronts.
who is going to summarize this again tomorrow?
Is straight up do not care, he’s either gonna play or he ain’t. The Eagles play every week so let’s just ignore this dumpster fire until February and let’s pray a Eagles Super Bowl win happens so that we can not care about this team being a dramatic mess this season.
Morey played his hand too early. Why would other GMs put up real assets for Harden when Morey wasn’t even willing to give him a contract? They’ll just wait it out.
https://preview.redd.it/s993jj4893pb1.jpeg?width=410&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26a42f0b07551ee5a08ae43c85629fb3bbef416e
He barely moved the needle for us and the guy he was traded fors value is at an all time low… no moreys out of his mind, but im rooting for him anyways.
He’s basically said that he’s willing to deal Harden for a star player (not happening), a promising young player, or a collection of draft picks. For a player that led the league last year and absolutely should have been an All Star, that’s not asking for much at all and is perfectly reasonable.
This isn’t like the Ben Simmons situation where he was looking for the moon and willing to attach picks. Teams just don’t want to give up anything of value for Harden.