Hopes of Jazz 3-Team Blockbuster Die as 76ers End Harden Trade Talks

An opportunity has now dried up for the Utah Jazz to get involved in a big offseason move.

With the NBA offseason spotlight centered upon a trade involving Portland Trail Blazers’ G Damian Lillard, the hype surrounding the tricky James Harden situation went a bit unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. After accepting his player option with the Philadelphia 76ers, he instantly requested a move to the Los Angeles Clippers in hopes to retain a long-term contract.

In the end, nothing really went how Harden planned. After a few weeks of rumors swirling connecting LA and Philly, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the 76ers have now decided to stop pursuing a trade for Harden as they plan to enter training camp with him on the roster.

ESPN Sources: The 76ers have ended trade talks on guard James Harden and plan to bring him back to training camp for start of the season. The Sixers had periodic offseason conversations with the Clippers — Harden’s desired destination — but no traction on a deal materialized. pic.twitter.com/sJwXMsBYKW

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 12, 2023

For Utah Jazz fans, this is another blip on the 2023 off-season radar without any deep implications moving forward. It’s not like Harden was making his way to Salt Lake City any time soon, but there was the slight possibility of a three-team trade that involved the Jazz to capitalize on moving assets.

During the peak of the trade discussions involving Harden (and Lillard), wide speculation surrounded the chance of a three-team trade inevitably being the route to a possible deal. Given that the Jazz stand at such a flexible position amongst the league in assets, providing some necessary draft capital or contracts in a deal would have been in the realm of possibility.

As shown in Utah’s deadline deal with the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Jazz are not afraid to get involved in three-team deals around the league. Helping by facilitating larger, cap-restrictive trades is a strategic way for rebuilding or retooling teams to get some sweet benefits in young players or draft picks as a reward.

However, the roster looks to stand as constructed for now with Harden reportedly off the block. A future Damian Lillard or Pascal Siakam trade could present a new opportunity for Danny Ainge and Co. to get involved down the line, but all signs now point to Utah entering the 2023-24 season with confidence in their current roster.

As for James Harden and the 76ers, things start to get a bit weird. It’s been reported that The Beard has no intentions on showing to training camp or appearing in another game for Philly. Both sides remaing unwilling to give any slack for the other which could make this an ugly process to endure for everyone. 

REPORT: James Harden has no plans of attending training camp and still doesn’t want to play for the Sixers, per @sam_amick pic.twitter.com/BDuJhtamHL

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) August 13, 2023

Despite no major trade on the table as things stand, the Jazz can thankfully still enter next season with some clear optimism about the future of this franchise.

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