Another offseason, another trade demand from a player on the Philadelphia 76ers. This time it's James Harden, who opted in to the $35.6 million player option for next season with the intention of being traded away from the Sixers. It's been a couple weeks since Harden's trade request was reported and nothing has come to fruition. It could take weeks or months for a deal to get done, and Philly president Daryl Morey is content on waiting until a deal comes forward that makes it worthwhile for the Sixers.
During an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic, Morey talked about what the Sixers are looking for in a return for trading Harden.
"I think James is a very good player and right now, unfortunately, he does prefer to be somewhere else," Morey said. "I'm attempting to honor that, but the reality is, if we do look at a trade, it's going to be for one of two things. It's either going to be for a player who continues to help us be right there like we were last year...or we're going to do it for something where we get enough draft picks and things like that in a deal that we could turn those into a player who can be a running mate with Joel [Embiid] as well."
Morey then went on to say that if a good offer isn't presented to them, then a trade won't happen.
"If we don't get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we're just not going to do it," Morey said.
Some of this is sounding eerily familiar to Morey's rhetoric when the team was going through the Ben Simmons trade demand. The Sixers waited five months before trading Simmons, who requested a trade in September 2021. He ultimately wasn't dealt until February 2022 at the trade deadline, in which the Sixers landed Harden from the Brooklyn Nets for Simmons. Given Philly's willingness to wait it out on the Simmons front, it wouldn't be surprising if Harden isn't dealt until the trade deadline of this upcoming season.
Despite initial reports suggesting that the Clippers were the frontrunners to land Harden in a deal, and mutual interest from the All-Star guard to play for the L.A. team, a deal doesn't appear imminent. From the sounds of Morey's interview, it appears as though it could be awhile before Harden's traded anywhere.
