Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden has accomplished a lot in his NBA career. The Beard has made the All-Star game 10 times, he has three scoring titles, he has been an elite playmaker, and he has an MVP award on his resume.
The only thing missing is a championship.
Harden got close with the Houston Rockets when they were one win away from the NBA Finals in 2018 before they fell to the Golden State Warriors in seven games. He then continued to come up short, but he has new life with the Sixers as they look to build around him and Joel Embiid.
Before free agency began, Harden opted out of his $47.3 million player option in order to allow the Sixers some financial flexibility to improve the roster. Philadelphia then went out and brought in PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. in order to add more physical and tougher players to the roster.
While Harden has not yet signed a new deal with the Sixers, the plan is that he will take a $15 million pay cut in order to help sign more players to the roster. The future Hall of Famer sat down with Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes to explain his decision to take the pay cut:
“I had conversations with Daryl, and it was explained how we could get better and what the market value was for certain players. I told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we needed to sign and give me whatever is left over,” Harden told Yahoo Sports. “This is how bad I want to win. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this stage. I’m willing to take less to put us in position to accomplish that.”
Harden did average 21 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in 21 games with Philadelphia after the deadline trade. Sure, he is not the same explosive scorer he was in Houston, but he is still a very impressive player in this league and he is somebody who can help take the Sixers to another level. Especially, with a full summer of being able to rest after his hamstring injury.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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