James Harden has finally been traded by the Sixers & Daryl Morey. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised because any team trading for Harden had to send at least $28-29 million back to the Sixers.
The only thing I knew for sure is that he wasn’t going to play again for the Sixers organization. If he had, that would’ve been the worst possible thing that could’ve happened. It would’ve allowed Harden to do what he does when he feels wronged – cause chaos in an attempt to burn everything down.
BTW….Congratulations LAC…It’s not like protecting the ball is very important.
TOP 5 NBA Turnover Seasons All-Time
- 1) James Harden – 464 Tov – 2016-17
- 2) Russell Westbrook – 438 Tov – 2016-17
- 3) James Harden – 387 Tov – 2018-19ß
- 4) Russell Westbrook – 381 Tov – 2017-18
- 5) James Harden – 374 Tov – 2015-16
Let’s pretend protecting the ball & defense aren’t the two most important aspects to winning rings…see how that works for you.
The day we got James Harden I likened it too a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from on Elm Street. Funny, it ends on Halloween. At least this nonsense is over.
So Harden’s gone….Now what?
Harden Trade specifics
Clippers get:
- James Harden
- P.J Tucker
- Filip Petrusev
Sixers Get
- Marcus Morris
- Robert Covington
- Nic Batum
- KJ Martin
- 2028 First Round Pick (unprotected)
- Two 2nd Round Picks
- 2029 Pick Swap
- an additional first-round pick that’ll be routed from a third team
-Per ESPN
I’ve never seen this before, an additional pick from a third team. I was answering people’s questions on Quora last week and began writing that for Harden to actually get traded, the NBA might have to get involved. Involved so unpractical things might occur, things not generally thought of to be seen as – following the rules of the CBA.
That looks to be what happened here. When James Harden began shopping himself around the league after Morey informed him of no “death sentence” of an extension would happen.
To spite Morey, James shopped himself around the league, then quickly opted into his player option. Very quickly. That means that nobody was going to give him years and no team was willing to give him the $36 million that he could opt into with the Sixers.
If teams weren’t willing to bring him in then, why would any team trade away at least $28-29 million in salary to acquire James Harden? The trade couldn’t happen if the Sixers weren’t taking this much back in salary or more.
Is it a Good Trade
When looking at this trade, you have to understand the players involved don’t matter all that much. No team wanted James Harden and the Clippers were the only team interested.
They made it understood quickly that they’d explore the idea, as long as it was understood that they wouldn’t part with any players of value or even any potentially valuable (Mann).
Those two first round picks & the 2029 swap, especially the Clippers 2028 first draft pick & swap, they could be massive for the Sixers future. The Clippers are one of the oldest teams now.
Sixers fans must also understand and come to terms with:
The Sixers Aren’t Title Contenders With or Without James Harden in 2023-24.
The past three seasons, the elite of the Eastern Conference have been the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics & Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers have been a level down – talent wise, but a level up from every other team in the conference.
I’m not saying this in hindsight either. Hell, when the Sixers paid Tobias Harris like he was a franchise superstar, I said then, that the Sixers wouldn’t be able to move the salary and wouldn’t be able to win until his contract came off the team payroll.
Fans that don’t want to hear this, I suggest someone else’s content, someone who will sugarcoat the truth or in most cases, they just aren’t as knowledgeable as I am.
I’m not full of myself either, I know what I know and make it a point to know all there is to know on something I’m doing. I’ve predicted all of this, everything that’s happened since the end of the 2018 season.
How do the Sixers become Elite?
I wrote an article the day before this James Harden madness began. This article was entitled “A Look into the Sixers Two Potential Futures”. I wrote this pretty convinced Daryl Morey didnt possess enough basketball knowledge or information to NOT give Harden what he wanted.
I explained what the new CBA meant to the Sixers if they gave him a 4-year max deal. Basically, extend Harden & it’s all over now but there was one more opportunity with Joel Embiid, if Harden wasn’t extended.
This last chance, revolved around Tobias Harris & james Harden both coming off the payroll after 2023-24. Then the Sixers could hit free agency & sign a legitimate superstar to max contract.
This Harden trade worried me because if they traded him and brought back salar of players with more than one year left, then this couldn’t happen. Both players had to come off the payroll for this to become a reality.
And thank god, all the players the Sixers brought in are in the final year of their contracts.
Just one hiccup to my master plan, there aren’t any unprotected free agents like this next summer.
Before I started talking about this plan early in the summer, I didn’t trust anything Sixers management did, I didn’t see them qualified to be where they were, holding the jobs they held (you’d be surprised how many teams fit into this same category of incompetence).
From the minute I posted the first article about this, the Sixers have followed, to the letter, everything I’ve talked about doing. I haven’t seen anyone proposing this as the only possible option either. Maybe they spent the summer learning about basketball or maybe not.. ? ?
Anyway, Daryl what you’ll likely have to do is sign good, younger players, 2-4 of them & hope some team shops a legit superstar during the 2024-25 season.
Don’t LISTEN TO ELTON, DARYL. When he suggests give a role player superstar money, “maybe he’ll become a superstar”. It never, ever works that way.
Don’t F’ around & trade that draft pick either. It could end up being the biggest mistake of this entire “process”. This is what happens, when you begin something called “the process” & that guy is forced out for morons to take over.
Ron Artest knew before all of us, how you have to deal with James Harden. How they’d treat James Harden in Queensbridge.
James Harden is always trying to draw a bull**** foul.
