James Harden no longer wants to play basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers.
And the Sixers aren’t particularly fond of forcing Harden to keep playing if he doesn’t want to.
However, the team’s front office isn’t going to race into any sort of deal that doesn’t give them what they want.
And what exactly do they want?
Speaking to 97.5 FM in Philadelphia, via Keith Pompey, President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said, “If we don’t get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we are not going to do it.”
"If we don't get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we are not going to do it," 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey tells 97.5 FM of trading James Harden.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 18, 2023
That is a very definitive statement from Morey and not a very surprising one.
Even with his inconsistency and his lack of a presence at times during the postseason, Harden is still an All-Star player and one of the biggest names in the league.
The 76ers aren’t going to give him away unless they can get another All-Star player or several picks that could be turned into an All-Star player.
So far, no team has offered anything that the Sixers want.
Reporting says that the Los Angeles Clippers are the frontrunners to land Harden and have been since he announced his intention weeks ago.
Yet, they haven’t yet given Philadelphia the sort of package they crave.
Morey and his team have been through this before: they handled the Ben Simmons situation in a very similar manner.
That ultimately led to them getting what they desired so there is little chance they will change their approach this time.
Unless he has a massive change of heart, Harden’s days of playing for the 76ers are over.
But the team isn’t going to let him just walk away and they are going to hold steady with their demands.
NEXT: Joel Embiid Sends Cryptic Message On Social Media
