All of a sudden, reports popped up about James Harden on the verge of getting traded anew. The former Philadelphia 76ers star is rumored to be on the lookout for his next ball club, with the Clippers reportedly engaging with the Cavaliers on a potential deal involving the 11-time All-Star and Darius Garland.
LA has been humming as of late, having won 17 of their last 21 outings prior to their latest loss to the 76ers. As such, the timing of this development could not have been more peculiar. The Clippers have gotten their groove as a collective, yet Harden is apparently craving for another exit at this point in his career — something the 76ers are too familiar with.
New James Harden trade drama is something the 76ers are too familiar with
There are a lot of mixed opinions about how James Harden played out his career in Philly. On one end, a lot of people are not happy with the way he basically quit on the team due to his public beef with Daryl Morey. On the other, there are those who sympathized with him feeling a strong sense of betrayal due to the longtime executive allegedly reneging on his contractual promises.
No matter where you stand, the indisputable fact stands — this guy is not someone who is willing to stick with his corps through thick and thin. He is most likely smelling an unfavorable fate with this Clippers team, and he is preempting the inevitable by asking to get out before his team shows signals of wanting to jettison him.
Problem is, it is not like the Clippers are a hopeless case. They have been on a furious run since starting miserably, and when fully healthy, they can compete with any team out there. At this point, no one really knows what Harden is after, but at age 36, there is simply not going to be a lot of organic demand for him.
Now, Cleveland looks amenable to parting with a young All-Star in Garland to get Harden, but they are reportedly wanting some more compensation to concur with the Clippers on a trade. This only goes to show that the former 76ers star’s value has waned to a great deal, which is probably not a surprise given how he manages to find ways to forcibly grab the “flight risk” tag for himself.
The 76ers have already seen how this script goes, but for some reason, teams keep falling for James Harden and his honey trap. Not that it’s Philly’s concern, but the other ball clubs ought to know better by now.
Unfortunately, they somehow still don’t.