Will James Harden Play for Sixers Again?
When James Harden initially picked up his player option for the 2023-2024 NBA season, he formally requested a trade as a follow-up move. At the time, the league-wide assumption was that Harden had played his final game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Although he hoped to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers rather quickly, Harden’s desired organization didn’t come to the negotiating table with an ideal offer in the eyes of the Sixers. After months of discussion, the two teams shut down trade talks.
The Sixers notified Harden of the update in hopes that he would return to the team at the start of training camp. At first, Harden showed resistance. Expressing his frustrations with the Sixers’ front office publicly, Harden mentioned that he wouldn’t play for a team run by Sixers’ President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey again.
Nearly two weeks ago, Morey confirmed that Harden still wanted to be traded. As the Sixers participated in their annual media day, the ten-time All-Star was absent from the event. While the Sixers expected Harden to show up for training camp in Colorado the following day, Harden was not present.
However, the absence didn’t last very long. On the second day of training camp, Harden showed up and practiced as a limited participant. By day three, Harden was able to scrimmage with the team. Since then, Harden hasn’t missed a practice and has put in plenty of work with the 76ers, despite not suiting up for the first two games of the 2023 NBA Preseason.
With trade talks between the Sixers and the Clippers still somewhat stalled, it’s apparent that Harden isn’t heading out West anytime soon. So, what’s the All-Star’s next move? Will he appear on the court for the Sixers once again after all?
For now, that’s the plan.
On Friday, Harden told reporters following practice in Camden, New Jersey, that he’s still “ramping up” at practice. While Harden admittedly feels like he’s in decent shape right now, he believes he could reach “another level” before lacing his sneakers up for a game.
If he hits that level sometime in the next week, Harden would be willing to play in the Sixers’ season finale, which takes place next Friday at the Wells Fargo Center against the Atlanta Hawks.
“I think there’s one more preseason game after that, so I’ll ramp it up and try to play the last one just to get in game situations and used to the physicality of defenders bumping you and whatnot and the speed and tempo and all that good stuff so I think we got a good plan in place,” Harden told reporters after Friday’s practice, per Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin.
Based on Harden’s comments, we can assume he won’t be suiting up for the Sixers once again when they face the Brooklyn Nets on the road on Monday. Barring any unexpected changes, Harden will likely miss three-quarters of the preseason before getting some run in against the Hawks late next week. From then on, his plan remains a mystery.
