After tanking his way out of Houston, then demanding a trade from Brooklyn, James Harden now reportedly wants out of Philadelphia. But don’t shed too many tears for the Sixers. This is probably for the best. The reality is that Philadelphia can likely find a better sidekick for the NBA’s reigning MVP, Joel Embiid. And with Harden’s departure imminent as NBA free agency begins, the 76ers have new opportunities to explore and possibly something to gain.
After Harden opted into his $35.6 million expiring contract on Thursday, multiple reports said that he’s seeking a trade from the Sixers to the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, or Los Angeles Clippers. Which potential destination makes the most sense? It’d be baffling if New York has serious interest in pairing Harden with Jalen Brunson. Miami needs a point guard. But why not wait for Damian Lillard? Phoenix just went all in for Bradley Beal and would have to get extremely creative to make something work. The Athletic’s Sam Amick is reporting that L.A. is where Harden wants to play, and the Clippers can make the most compelling offer anyway.
The Offer Sheet
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The Sixers should essentially try to trade Harden for everything that he isn’t: players who are knockdown shooters off the catch, active movers without the ball, and tough defenders.
Negotiations with the Clippers probably start with Paul George. A mega-trade that sends Harden, P.J. Tucker, and Tobias Harris to the Clippers and returns George and a collection of role players makes some mutual sense. But pairing Harden with Kawhi Leonard and George is likely L.A.’s endgame, and the Sixers don’t have a ton of leverage to ask for a player of George’s caliber. Harden turns 34 next season, has been on a physical decline, and has only one year remaining on his deal. Though George is 33 himself, with just one guaranteed year remaining, the Clippers would almost certainly prefer to retain him. It’s more likely that we’d see a deal in which Philly sends Harden and Tucker to the Clippers for just the role players and one or two future firsts.
Here’s a realistic deal that could make sense for both sides:
Clippers get: Harden and Tucker
Sixers get: Terance Mann, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, and first-round picks in 2028 and 2030
This return would net Philly four players who shot above 38 percent from 3 last season. Mann and Powell are still in their prime, and Covington and Batum are veterans who would be smart additions.
We just saw the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat make the Finals with two stars each and a bunch of quality role players operating around them. New Sixers head coach Nick Nurse will have a lot on his plate, but with this trade he would have a ton of options, minus a ball-dominant guard like Harden.
I wrote this during the Finals earlier this month, and it seems timely again now:
Nurse needs to empower Embiid to attack more from the perimeter, much like how Milwaukee uses Giannis. And much like how Denver uses Jokic, Nurse needs to put Embiid in different spots on the floor. The Nuggets get Jokic into advantageous positions with off-screen actions and with his reps as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll.
Embiid may lack Giannis’s vertical athleticism and Jokic’s playmaking feel, but he brings additional dimensions to the game that can be amplified in a system that fosters movement and spacing. It’s a benefit he has seldom experienced under various Sixers regimes. Imagine Embiid in place of Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento, screening, handing the ball off to shooters, and posting up. The Sixers won’t shift to that extreme, but they should at least install some elements from that kind of system.
Turning Harden into a group of role players would put the Sixers on a similar path as they build around Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, whose game could take off with more space and the right system.
There are other benefits to trading Harden, too. Gathering picks from the Clippers would help replenish the asset cupboard for potential use in future trades, perhaps as a sweetener for Harris’s expiring deal.
And with my proposed trade structure above, the Sixers would project to have more than $40 million in cap space next summer, when there will be a free agency class that could feature George, Leonard, LeBron James, and tons of other quality players. Who knows? Maybe Philly will be the team that pitches signing LeBron and drafting Bronny James. After all, Embiid and LeBron did just launch a production company together—news that comes months after LeBron drafted Embiid first for the All-Star Game.
For Philly fans, it’s disappointing that it’s come to these types of fantasies, though. The Sixers have won a lot of games since acquiring the Beard. Trading for Harden was a worthy gamble to replace the absent Ben Simmons, but Harden could only occasionally tap into his prime scoring prowess in Philly, and he didn’t offer enough in other categories.
Losing Harden could be a blessing in disguise for the Sixers, or it could be the beginning of the end of Embiid’s tenure in Philadelphia. I won’t pretend that I can predict the future. But there’s a lot at stake with this trade. A passionate fan base is thirsting for a championship. The NBA’s MVP wants it, too. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, he could develop a wandering eye one day, just like his nomadic teammate who will be on his way out soon.