Philadelphia 76ers to Extract Massive Price for James Harden

While the Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly keen on keeping hold of James Harden, they are seemingly ready to entertain offers for the 33-year-old, albeit ones that are of the massive variety.

Harden apparently wants out, as the 76ers were not interested in offering the 10-time NBA All-Star pick a long-term contract, and one wonders if this will lead to a situation similar to what occurred with Ben Simmons, who Philadelphia held on to for a long period prior to his eventual move to the Brooklyn Nets.

James Harden played his part in taking the 76ers to the Conference semifinals, where they eventually lost to the Boston Celtics in game seven, and one wonders how his likely exit might impact the PA sports betting odds. We are, after all, talking about a very talented player, albeit one with a fair bit of baggage.

The 76ers are placing an ‘extremely high’ price on Harden, as detailed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski;

“But it’s different with James Harden; one year left on his deal. Wherever he’s traded, he’s on an expiring contract. You saw how Daryl Morey handled the Ben Simmons situation a couple of years ago. He waited him out, waited him out, tried to convince him to come back.”

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“Now, it never worked but what’s different with James Harden is there’s a relationship with Daryl Morey, with Tad Brown, the president who oversees the 76ers, from back with their time in Houston. That’s a different factor in this.”

“ And so far, teams who’ve talked to Philadelphia, the asking price is extremely high. That’s what you expect starting out with Daryl Morey. Again, I think this is a process that’s not going to get resolved quickly.” Wojnarowski added.

The 76ers bowed out at the Eastern Conference semifinals for the fifth year in six last time around, and there may be a fear that Harden leaving might upset star player Joel Embiid and parallels to the Simmons situation are not really there, but the end outcome may well play out the same.

Harden’s career started with a three-year spell at the Oklahoma City Thunder after he was selected as a third overall draft pick in 2009. He then spent nine seasons at the Houston Rockets before joining the Brooklyn Nets in 2021.

His time at the Barclays Center was short as the seeming dream team comprising Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant failed to bear fruit, and he was off again, moving to the 76ers last February, helping Philadelphia to a second-place finish in the Atlantic and a third place overall in the Eastern.

In the first round of the playoffs, they easily saw off the Nets in four games, Harden playing his part.

Then in the semifinals, the Philadelphia 76ers lost a 3-2 advantage, slumping to back-to-back losses to the Celtics.

Though Harden is in the latter stages of his career and has suffered injury issues in each of the last three seasons, he clearly has a lot to offer any prospective suitor.

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