By the end of last postseason, some fans of the Philadelphia 76ers might felt let down by James Harden based on his playoff performance. However, this offseason Harden has put the team before himself by giving up money.
Harden’s financial choices are making it clear that he’s in a win-now mode with the Sixers.
First, Harden declined his player option worth about $47 million making himself a free agent. However, 76ers fans had nothing to fear because it appears he will re-sign on a team-friendly deal for about $15 million less than what his player option was worth.
Since that news has been revealed, Harden hasn’t officially re-signed with the team, but Harden did recently speak to Chris Haynes of Yahoo about his offseason approach.
"“I had conversations with Daryl [Morey], and it was explained how we could get better and what the market value was for certain players. I told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we needed to sign and give me whatever is left over,…This is how bad I want to win. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this stage. I’m willing to take less to put us in position to accomplish that."
This is exactly what he needs to say considering he’s forced his way out of two teams in the past two seasons. This mentality from Harden has paid off as the Sixers were able to sign free agents like P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. The cool part is because Harden hasn’t officially re-signed yet, so Philly can still make more moves if they decide to. I
Overall, this is exactly what they need from Harden this offseason and it certainly helps that he’s getting himself back into shape as well. Hopefully, the Philadelphia 76ers don’t waste his sacrifices.