The Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden appear destined for divorce.
Harden has expressed a need to play elsewhere, and the Sixers are little doubt underwhelmed by what he and Joel Embiid have been in a position to accomplish collectively thus far.
That stated, a mutually helpful commerce is simpler stated than executed.
Harden has one particular touchdown spot in his sights, however Philly clearly must get a deal value making introduced to them. So far, they haven’t.
In keeping with NBA insider Kyle Neubeck, the 76ers expect rather a lot in return for his or her future Corridor of Famer guard.
“Philadelphia’s place on a James Harden commerce has been described as ‘unreasonable’ by competing executives, whereas the staff has pushed again on that notion,” he wrote.
“They view their path to a Harden commerce to perform one in all two issues — they wish to get again a package deal that permits them to remain in the identical tier of rivalry, sources say, or to make a commerce that returns sufficient belongings again to flip for an additional high-level participant.”
There may be additionally rising doubt that Philadelphia will have the ability to rope in different organizations to assist them make this commerce occur.
“Whereas there was loads of hypothesis that the Sixers may attempt to spin a Harden commerce right into a multi-team deal to chase a star, there does appear to be some pushback on the concept that they might execute that fashion of asset-flipping commerce concurrently with a Harden deal,” Neubeck continued.
“The Sixers would favor to have the ability to make or maintain the staff as aggressive as attainable as quickly as attainable, however they consider that requires getting an All-Star-level return for Harden within the occasion that they commerce him.”
The Los Angeles Clippers have made their place clear. There are two gamers, except for Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, which might be off the desk.
Hailey Van Lith is aware of find out how to make an impression. https://t.co/ggfeor7Zxp
— Recreation 7 (@game7__) July 18, 2023
If the Sixers can’t recover from that, then the Clippers are advantageous with not getting Harden.
For the time being, a stalemate has ensued. How lengthy it’s going to final is anybody’s guess.
Will the 76ers finally commerce Harden someplace earlier than the 2023-24 NBA season commences? Time will inform.
Associated: Victor Wembanyama Appears Like Spurs’ Tim Duncan After Haircut