Hard out

James Harden opts in to opt out. What now for the Big Fella and the Sixers?

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Worn Out; Vincent van Gogh; 1882

A diagnostic read of my reactions to the James Harden doom loop in Philadelphia as an outsider:

• Bemusement: When the story that Harden wanted to return to the Rockets, then one of the worst teams in the league, as a free agent, I was delighted. A pure distillation of a player in a single rumor!

• Hope: That shot to cap that performance … wow.

• Cynicism: Much of the rest of that series reflected, uh, Harden’s traditional playoff history.

• Intrigue: Reports as free agency approached indicated that Houston was off the table and Harden was most likely to re-up with the Sixers. And finally …

• Shock: On Thursday, news broke that James Harden would pick up his player option for 2023-24 and be traded from the Sixers, to somewhere.

Sam Amick at The Athletic has a scoop on how the Harden situation resolved in such a twist. The way he reports it, Harden expected an enormous contract from the Sixers after taking a “pay cut” last season, but the vibes his camp received were that the Sixers were going to make him show that he could command that offer on the open market. Meanwhile, Amick reports, Daryl Morey wouldn’t talk free agency early after being fined for doing it last season. On this point I’m skeptical: fines are a cost of doing business, something Morey knows well. But I don’t doubt that Morey refused to talk contract with Harden if it was clear that he’d be competing against himself. You think Daryl Morey would be unaware if the Rockets decided not to try to sign Harden?

So, in the end, it sounds like Daryl Morey finally treated James Harden like he’s always been accused of treating all of his non-superstar players (fairly or not): like an asset, like a chip, like a contract. Harden’s camp could do only one thing if they were going to get left at the altar by the rest of the league, giving Philly all the leverage. They did the one thing that very good players — and Harden is still very good — can always do. They requested a trade.

Amick and his colleague Kelly Iko further report that Harden has identified the Clippers as his preferred destination, and the Clippers appear to be interested. (If only this could have happened a week ago, Eric Gordon’s non-guaranteed contract could potentially have been useful!) We’ll get to that when and if that happens. My initial gut reaction is that you’re going to be paying $123 million for three stars to get 2 DNPs and a 4-17 shooting performance in a playoff game, and that seems bad. (For what it’s worth, I’ve picked the Clippers as my preseason title favorite multiple times in the past four years. I picked Clippers-Sixers in the Finals before last season!)

My interest immediately falls at the large feet of Joel Embiid. Assuming the Sixers pull back a package that doesn’t include any true blue stars — the Clips aren’t trading Paul George, so it’s going to be something like Terance Mann, an expiring contract in the $10-20 million range (Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum), maybe Kobe Brown (the Clippers’ recent first round pick), maybe Brandon Boston Jr., maybe Bones Hyland and whatever picks or pick swaps the Clips actually have available. In other words, it’s going to largely be Stuff. And not necessarily Stuff that Morey can then leverage to nab the next star to ask for a trade. And given the teams’ cap situations, there’s no way the Sixers will dive low enough to make a play for Draymond Green or Khris Middleton in free agency, if they even wanted to do so.

What’s Embiid to think about all this? After finally winning his MVP award after two years in the runner-up spot, after finally seeing a glimpse of potential playoff glory before the Celtics snatched it away, after losing another star guard due to an apparent rift with the front office — what’s Embiid to think about all this?

How will he react?

What will he want the team to do?

Does he trust this process?

What happens after the Harden trade in Philadelphia could shake the NBA to its core. Stay tuned.

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‘They’re Saying Boo-arnes! Boo-arnes!’

The Kings, apparently realizing that they were not going to land any of the non-Harrison Barnes forwards that they were chasing in free agency, re-signed Harrison Barnes on a three-year, $54 million extension. I am a fan of Harrison Barnes as a player and person. He won the Kings multiple games last season by being a total adult and calm presence who attacks the rim at the right times. I think he’s an integral enough piece of the team that losing him would have been a major blow, depending on who replaced him. I think this is good business.