Sixers’ Harden not getting enough credit for taking a pay cut: Going for more money in the long-term
James Harden taking less money is a good thing, right? Yea but, not entirely if you’re a part of the camp that thinks Harden is just taking a pay cut to leverage more money or the money he expected on this newly-signed deal to get a bigger contract.
That brings us to reason number two regarding Harden receiving credit for his new deal. Taking less money when more could’ve been negotiated was left on the table. Better yet, it was basically not an option when the off-season came. The narrative of the reports indicated that Harden was doing this to then maximize his earnings on the next contract, per Keith Pompey of the Inquirer (subscription needed).
This possibility could leave the Sixers in a tough place in their decision to re-sign Harden again. As I said, the second year of the deal is up to Harden to opt-in or not. A year older Harden is in a not-so-interesting free agent class in 2023.
Harden’s looming free agency puts the Sixers in a similar predicament to the Tobias Harris conundrum from the summer of 2019. The obligated feeling of overpaying because the player is already with your club. It is basically like throwing your hands up and saying what else are we supposed to do?