Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10086253-4-realistic-outcomes-for-ugly-james-harden-philadelphia-76ers-saga
> It’s illegal for teams to make promises to players on future contracts, but teams tend to skirt the rules—just not in writing.
> When Harden re-signed with the 76ers last July on a two-year, $68.6 million contract, he took a lower starting salary ($33 million) than his available max ($46.5 million). That gave the Sixers enough space under the salary-cap apron to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr.
> Whether Morey promised it or not, multiple sources indicated Harden was under the impression he would opt out and re-sign with Philadelphia on a max deal this summer.
> But since such promises are non-binding (if one was indeed made), it apparently became clear to Harden that he and the Sixers were not on the same page. Instead of exploring an unfavorable free-agent market (no genuine contenders with cap space), Harden chose to pick up his $35.6 million player option “to work together on a trade out of Philadelphia,” per Shams Charania, John Hollinger and William Guillory of The Athletic.
by UnbiasedNBAFan_
35 Comments
It’s the implication.
Can Morey or harden just like the conversation so we can all put this to rest.
Media Day for the Sixers this season will be a must watch. Like there’s just no denying it, idc what team u support lol
Harden got played by a crook
The only thing I can say going against harden in this is it was clear he was already declining when he chose to take the pay cut. Some excused it for a lingering hamstring injury and he probably could’ve gotten a close to max 3 year deal had he tested fa and not taken the pay cut. But I really don’t think harden was ever getting a max again.
I get there was a risk of getting lowballed due to not having any other teams wanting him, but why did Harden opt in in the first place? The Sixers don’t have any alternative. They can’t let him walk for nothing. The absolute worst case scenario for Harden is he opts in, plays the season with the Sixers, and gets another bad injury that kills his chances of ever signing another major contract. He should have just taken more years even if it meant less money. Dude’s gonna be 34 in 10 days.
Oof
So Harden signs a 1+1 deal last summer so that Philly has space to sign Tucker and House. It may or may not have been promised to him he will opt out and that Philly will offer him a max this summer. At any rate, that was Harden’s expectation.
When that did not come to fruition this summer, Harden felt like Philly was not holding their promise that they may or may not have had. He opts in and informs the team that he wants to be traded. Philly says that they will work to find a trade partner to get them a solid return.
It’s now rumored that Morey never made a sincere effort to trade Harden, and expects him to be on the team come training camp and opening night. Obviously a very pro-Harden portrayal of things but if that’s accurate, tough look for Morey.
EDIT: I’m not saying Harden’s faultless here, he’s played his cards wrong for sure, and it’s perfectly clear why there isn’t a robust trade market for him. But if the rumors are true, I’d get why he feels so backstabbed by Morey.
Team Harden if what’s being reported has been true. Fuck people that can’t keep their word.
Who da fuck is tingus pincus!?
Should’ve tried not sucking shit in the playoffs for the first time in his career, if that was the plan.
>But since such promises are non-binding
The promise is non-binding, but it makes sense to keep this type of promise because the fall-out from breaking the promise (the player going public about the broken promise) is potentially devastating to the front office and team.
If they can’t trade for Dame then I don’t see why they just don’t pay Harden? He’s still a good player and the time to win with Embiid is now. Yeah that last year will look rough but by that time Embiid will already by deep in his 30s.
Sixers fans talk about this max cap space next summer but when u take account for Siakam, Kawhi, and PG most likely re singing with their teams, who would be better than a few more years of Harden?
The only person I ever seen have a worst meltdown than harden is crybaby Luka
This is like the scene on the Office where Michael is like “it was my understanding that …” and David Wallace says “What gave you that impression?” Then Michael says “It was my understanding.”
So is it just gonna trickle out that Harden just “assumed” he was getting a multi year max and this offseason is his tantrum when he realize that was not the case?
To be fair, I was under the impression that Harden could finish after contact and get the free throw
It was a non binding promise
So he assumed he would get a good deal. So if he assumed that what was the Houston talk? Seems to me Houston decided to go into another direction.
He expected the 76ers to still max him and they decided against it. Sensing that money was gone he decided to opt in as opposed to actually testing free agency and thought he could force his way to the clippers.
The clippers only want him if it’s for Pennies on the dollar. Which to me eludes to the fact they don’t want him that much. Anytime Terrance Mann is the hold up.
So realizing that the 76ers don’t have to trade him just because he requested it he’s kicking up all of this dust. But Mr Harden and his team aren’t thinking about these things it seems.
If he doesn’t report the 76ers own his rights and can deny him signing elsewhere.
If he does report and is detrimental to the team he can be suspended.
If he shows up and purposefully isn’t productive he’s forgetting he’s an expiring contract who can be cut.
If he’s cut that means his time as a bird rights player is over. How much money can the clippers offer him next season what about the other teams?
I doubt it’s near 30+ million for more than 3 seasons.
Harden if he was a true professional should have presented the 76ers with a list of teams he’d be willing to go to and his agent can see what’s out there.
I can almost guarantee he would be traded if he was open to going to more than just 1 team. But in hindsight I don’t think too many teams even want him now.
James Harden is legitimately one of the least accountable players in the league. I’m not even sure I’d want him on my team unless it was for Pennies on the dollar.
I don’t think Kendrick Perkins was too far off base it’s a chance that he could be out of the league of playing for minimum type deals unless he’s willing to go to a less attractive location.
What would the actual market have looked like if Harden had opted out?
3 years $150M?
If you put yourself in Harden’s place, it seems likely that there was more than an implication of a deal.
Imagine it. You’re Harden about to opt in for 47.5m or get a longer deal, 4 years 40 million or whatever.
Without any prompting from anyone else, would you have told the sixers that you’ll take a paycut? Or is it more than likely that the FO asked you to take a pay cut?
And If you were asked to take a pay cut, what would you say to the FO? Just say alright or tell em you expect to have a better deal lined up next season?
Then who leaked on Christmas Day that Harden was seriously considering returning to the Rockets?
There was a good point made that Harden to Houston was leaked really early in the season. Presumably from Hardens camp. Almost like it wasn’t promised and Harden was either trying to get leverage or go somewhere he could get his desired contract.
Just saying.. James Harden is one of the guys that fired their highly connected agent and hired someone much cheaper because they wanted to save money, right? From what I can find online, Harden is his agents only client.
How much of this blame should land on Harden’s agent and therefor Harden for hiring the dude?
Imagine if he gets traded for Dame in the most toxic trade of all time fueled on both sides by GMs wanting to fuck over the player
All that FO bootlicking can stop now. It was plain as day that Harden was promised a max under the table, and Analytics Boy reneged.
Say what you will about Harden, if he deserves the max or not, if Morey promised harden a max in a handshake agreement last summer to agree to a paycut in 2022, you have to come through on it
If not it just sets a bad precedent overall where you are pretty much discouraging players to take a paycut to help the team get better because now they expect you to not come through on your promises
as a player, after seeing various players get fucked over by front offices.. why would you trust an informal deal like that? if it’s not on paper how is it guaranteed whatsoever
But was it a conditional promise? Like, get us out of the 2nd round and I’ll max you? Win a chip & you’re in? I can’t imagine Morey would do that. No one guarantees things 2 years out. There’s a reason there was a player option in that contract.
I mean James is screwed majorily,
If he doesn’t report to camp, then the 76ers can block him from being a free agent next year according to the CBA.
I am sure that James trusted Morey until he reneged on trading James after he realized the Clippers weren’t gonna give up PG, or Kawhi.
“Under the impression”
If Morey promised anything, than Harden’s sources would be using that exact language….not saying “under the impression”.
I just really don’t want to boil it down to one or the other being wrong…they both have some accountability to accept.
Harden – not sure if people remember, but he declined multiple extensions, one being with the Rockets and the other being with the Nets. He kept betting on himself. He shot himself in the foot. No way of knowing this, but I think Harden is projecting a lot of his frustration onto Morey that would otherwise be placed on himself for declining two extensions.
Morey – it wasn’t fair to give Harden the impression that he’d get a lucrative, long-term contract if he was never genuinely entertaining it. At the very least, Morey strung Harden along for an extra year, unsure whether or not he was going to give him a long-term contract. As a fan though, I’m glad Morey did that for the best interest of the team, but it’s still a shitty thing to do to a player whose pursuing his last contract of his career.
That’s how I see it….at least until more information comes out.
YO WTF IS TINGUS PINCUS?
So if he opten in so they could “work together on a trade” does that mean he only opted-in because he had another verbal assurance that they would try?
Because if the news are true and they didn’t even try then that is twice they gave their word and lied.
Dude really thinks he can choke and die on the floor and still get a long term max, living in fantasy land
He can believe whatever he wants. The only thing that matters is if Morey actually promised it to him. Even if Morey said “if everything goes well, we’ll bring you back on a max” then this is just Harden being a crybaby
Who the hell cares what James Harden’s impression was? That means precisely jack shit.