04 October 2023 , 17:33
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James Harden’s future in the NBA remains uncertain, but it seems that one team did express an interest in a trade.
Harden’s future with the Philadelphia 76ers has been up in the air ever since the team lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season. Harden was set to be a free agent in the summer until he opted into the $35.6 million (£29.3 million) player option in his contract for 2023/24.
However, Harden and the Sixers were reported by ESPN to have been working on the possibility of a trade. The LA Clippers were the team that seemed the most likely to get a deal over the line, but as it stands Harden is still a Sixers player.
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It seems, though, that Harden may have actually had another offer on the table this off-season. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith has claimed that the Houston Rockets expressed an interest in signing Harden from Philadelphia.
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Harden spent nine seasons in Houston from 2012-21 after being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder. He would go on to establish himself as one of the best point guards and best players in the NBA during his time in Texas, before he would go on to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
Smith has suggested that the Rockets offered Harden a maximum four-year contract to re-sign for the team this summer. However, Harden’s message to Houston following the offer led to the deal falling through.
“I got tipped off last week by a very reliable source about something that happened in Houston a few months ago,” Smith said on ESPN’s ‘First Take’ on Wednesday.
“The Houston Rockets were talking to James Harden, thinking about bringing him back after Ime Udoka was brought in.
“James Harden, this is what I’m told and I haven’t confirmed it with him [Harden], he actually talked himself out of a max-deal because he went in there talking about how he wanted to return to being the scoring champion.
James Harden's future with the Philadelphia 76ers remains uncertain (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)“Ime Udoka and the Rockets thought ‘No, we ain’t trying to have that here. We’re building something a little bit different.’
“Had he come in there and said the right things, they would have given him a max-four-year deal. He talked himself out of his own max-deal.”
Harden, as well as the other members of the Sixers roster, was due to return for the media day on Monday and the first day of practice on Tuesday. However, the 34-year-old did not show up amid uncertainty over his future, although reported that the Sixers expect Harden to return for training camp in the near future.