The James Harden-Philadelphia 76ers saga has been one that has taken the stage front and center in the 2023 offseason. The future Hall of Famer opted into his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season looking to help facilitate a trade, not to remain with the team.
Harden has his eyes set on the Los Angeles Clippers, but the Sixers are not going to just trade him just to trade him. They have to do what’s best for them and get the most value in return for a guy who is still impactful out on the floor.
Harden then caused waves when he called out President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey as a “liar” and he said so twice. The NBA fined Harden $100,000 for the comments.
Former Sixers star Andre Iguodala hopped on “The Old Man and the Three” with former Sixers guard JJ Redick and he believes the Sixers should have been fined as well:
Teams should be fined as well when that player is fined. So when James goes and make these comments, and James is fined, we all know they changed the rules on when you can start negotiating with players before free agency because everybody had their deal done before free agency. We all know that James was told ‘You’re going to get this deal.’ Hush hush under the table. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t—James didn’t tell me this…but it’s always an assumption. The team can say it was an assumption. What did James do wrong to get fined? He said I was lied to. If I lie to you, I’m a liar in that moment. I may not be a liar, but I was a liar within that five seconds. So yes, James Harden made a true statement. So why would he get fined? I would prefer the team should be fined $5 million because come on now. Like yeah, we can’t prove it, but that happened. Like that happened and that’s where that’s where I get upset.
Obviously, nobody knows what Harden was promised or not promised. He’s obviously upset about what has transpired between him and Morey, but the Sixers still have to do what’s best for the organization. They would like to move The Beard, but they also have to make sure it’s for the right deal.
At the end of the day, the Sixers would like to keep Harden around. The duo of himself and Joel Embiid is one of the top in the league and the organization would welcome him back with open arms if he were to change his mind.
[lawrence-related id=84151,84145,84142]