Normally, in the NBA, the superstar player gets exactly what the superstar player wants. If that superstar player requests a trade, the incumbent team is usually willing to begrudgingly oblige.
That is absolutely not the case in the scenario between James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Harden’s trade request was one of the first dominos of the NBA’s free agency period to drop. That was essentially three weeks ago at this point. Today, Harden is still a Philadelphia 76er. And Daryl Morey actually seems a bit less willing to trade Harden than he might have been just a few weeks ago.
It’s hard to blame him, honestly. Morey and the 76ers have all of the leverage in this scenario. It’s going to be hard for Harden to get exactly what he wants here when the team holds all the cards. That’s especially true considering that Harden might not be able to use the same strategy he’s used before to force his way out of situations he didn’t like.
Let’s dive into it.