In all honesty, the James Harden scenario has put the Philadelphia 76ers in a difficult place. Even though Harden was willing to go, they may have made matters worse by choosing not to include him on the team’s inaugural road trip. The Sixers still need to hang onto James Harden until they receive a higher deal, notwithstanding these factors.
To be clear, this is not an announcement that the relationship can be saved and that everything will be alright; if the franchise doesn’t deal Harden, he will undoubtedly leave in the offseason and remain a generational disaster come playoff time. Although they shouldn’t, other teams most likely will be interested in him.
Fans who have to suffer through the Sixers and Harden experience often think that they are the only team panicking, but this is not true. Every year, teams will disappoint themselves and make moves out of desperation. All it takes is for the Sixers to outlast one or two of those teams for another organization to talk themselves into trading for the former MVP.
As of now, the only team to have shown “interest” is the Los Angeles Clippers. Interest in this case is defined as the Clippers being the only team to have lowballed the Sixers thus far. Bad players that are expiring, a first-round pick from a contender, and a pick swap that likely will not convey is not a serious offer. The refusal to include Terrance Mann is egregious and the Sixers should not waste their time with the Clippers until they make a real offer.
While clearly not a contender and despite the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Sixers proved that they will be just fine in the regular season without Harden. Joel Embiid always starts slow, Tyrese Maxey looks like he has taken another step, Tobias Harris looks more comfortable under Nick Nurse, and Kelly Oubre is the best former Kansas Jayhawk on the team (ok that one may not be true). All of this combined with the fact that Harden has actually shown a willingness to suit up for the team will keep the Sixers afloat.
It is far from an ideal situation, but it is better than the Ben Simmons situation. While Simmons may have had more value due to age and being under team control for multiple years, Harden has at least shown a willingness to play basketball. Even with all of his flaws, Harden is a regular season floor raiser. When he requested out of Houston, he was still productive early in the season for the Rockets.
His track record suggests that he can still help the team out enough in the regular season that another team could be intrigued by bringing him on and could usurp the Clippers’ offer, even if they plan on Harden being a rental.
Teams such as the Raptors or the Magic could overachieve and bring along Harden as a veteran point guard to fill their current voids just to make some noise in the playoffs. We have seen in the past that teams are willing to pay a fair price for a rental, and even convince themselves that they can either retain him or that it will work for them for one year.
The two teams mentioned above are just archetypes, several teams could fill this role. There is also the possibility that a contender underwhelms and panics into a Harden trade. If the Clippers are not looking like title contenders a few months into the season and they realize Terrance Mann is not the second coming of Michael Jordan, they could easily improve their offer. Other teams like the Lakers or the Heat tend to also be in the hunt for stars and they are not usually regular-season juggernauts.
The Lakers are in need of a point guard, especially with how they are using LeBron James this year, and it is obviously a destination Harden approves of. The Heat just missed out on Damian Lillard, if desperate, could they pivot toward James Harden? Despite the current talent disparity, Harden and Lillard do share overlapping skill sets.
The point is, while the Clippers may look like the only team for Harden at the moment, a new team will arise as the season goes on. Even when the Sixers traded Ben Simmons, the Nets were not considered a possibility to start the season. The NBA can be unpredictable, and some teams will exceed expectations while others will disappoint.
Given that Harden causes a lot of disturbance, some could argue that the club would be better off without him. There might be some truth to it, but if they don’t receive a good enough return for James Harden, this club won’t be able to win the championship, and the clock is ticking on Embiid’s trade request, or they might try to deal Maxey. Sadly, the Sixers have already committed a great deal of mistakes throughout the years and won’t be making any more. They will probably need to consider a rebuild if they don’t make the proper move in Harden.
