Camden, New Jersey – James Harden publicly called his boss a liar and vowed he would never play for the Philadelphia 76ers again.
So he won’t — the 10-time All-Star with a history of business demands only slightly shorter than his iconic beard is on his way to his fifth NBA team, chasing his first championship, this time in his native California native.
Harden joins Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook to form a veteran core trying to win the Los Angeles Clippers their first NBA title in franchise history.
The 76ers are simply trying to move on from the Harden Headache and continue their own longshot bid for a championship behind reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid and star-in-waiting Tyrese Maxey.
The final outcome was still up in the air Tuesday — coach Nick Nurse and Maxey danced around the subject of the trade after practice — but the key takeaways were: The 76ers sent Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrušev to Los Angeles for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, an unprotected 2028 first-round pick, two second-round picks, a swap of 2029 draft picks and an additional first-rounder a third team, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated. Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the final details of the exchange were not yet official.
Maxey texted Harden, 34, when news of the deal broke overnight — Nurse said he slept through the trade call — and thanked his former teammate for his contribution during of 79 total regular season games with the 76ers.
“I told him I loved him, I told him I appreciated him,” Maxey said. “One thing he really instilled in me was confidence. I have always been a confident person. It gave me even more confidence than I already had. All I can do is appreciate him for that.
Maxey turns 23 on Saturday and has improved his numbers in each of his first three seasons – 8.5 points per game to 17.5 to 20.3 to 30.3 and his first Conference Player of the Week award Eastern in a small sample size this season. This improvement finally makes the 76ers believe he can be the star to pair with Embiid and remain contenders. Not Ben Simmons. Not harden.
“Everything went well, the pace went well, the organization was great, the team believes in it, the coach has confidence in himself,” Maxey said. “Everything went well.”
Yet the longer Harden’s melodrama persisted in Philadelphia, the greater the chances that the situation would eventually implode. Harden – now traded by Houston, Brooklyn and the 76ers in each of the last three seasons – has long wanted to play in Philadelphia.
Harden and team president Daryl Morey, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, were early allies when they were in Houston. Harden was a league MVP and had scoring titles for the Rockets. But when the Rockets embarked on a rebuild, Harden issued his first ultimatum and forced his way to Brooklyn in 2021. He joined Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a “Big Three” that was never very big. The trio was rocked by injuries and other controversies and only played 18 games together before Harden wanted out.
So it’s off to Philadelphia at the 2022 trade deadline in a deal for Simmons.
He reunited with Morey and looked comfortable in his role as playmaker as the offense ran through Embiid. Harden even declined his $47.4 million option in June 2022, saying he wanted to give the 76ers financial flexibility to improve their roster and compete for a championship. He signed a below-market contract worth just over $68 million, paying him about $33 million last season, with a $35.6 million player option for that one. -this.
Harden led the NBA in assists last season with 10.7 per game, but it was his 22 total points in losses in Games 6 and 7 that doomed the Sixers when they lost to Boston in the second playoff round.
Part of Harden’s complaint with the Sixers came from his belief that he should have gotten a long-term contract. When he didn’t, Harden was determined to cut ties with the Sixers and called Morey a liar during an August promotional event in China.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he is a part of,” Harden said at the event. “Let me say it again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be part of any organization that he is a part of.”
While Eastern Conference powers Boston and Milwaukee made bold trades this summer, the 76ers instead learned that Harden wanted a trade with the Clippers.
He arrived late to training camp and continued to practice with the 76ers until he was told to stay home for the team’s first two road games following the request commercial. The one time he spoke at practice, Harden said his fractured relationship with Morey couldn’t be repaired – comparing it to a broken marriage. The nurse insisted that Harden would not play until he met certain conditioning requirements. Harden wore street clothes and watched Sunday’s home opener from the bench.
Harden was scheduled to practice with the 76ers on Tuesday.
Instead, he’s on his way to California.
The 76ers are off until Thursday’s home game against Toronto. The Clippers play Tuesday night against Orlando. It was not immediately clear when all of the traded players would be available for their new teams.
“I don’t think it’s a big relief,” Nurse said. “These guys are focused. Other than spending a few minutes a day answering questions about it, or having a few meetings I might not have about it, it really wasn’t that tedious, awkward, or taxing for me.
Harden and Westbrook joined Bob McAdoo as the only league MVPs traded four times during their careers. Harden and Westbrook will play together for the third time.
This may be the Clippers’ last chance to win a title with this group of players.
Both Leonard and George are eligible for extensions and the Clippers will have to decide whether it’s worth keeping the injury-prone duo together, along with their other aging stars.
The 76ers get draft picks later, but the short-term win — aside from getting rid of “The Beard” — is a glut of salary cap space next season.
While the Sixers failed to land prized guard Terance Mann in the deal, Batum, Covington (serving his second stint with the 76ers), Martin and Morris all have contracts expiring at the end of the season. That leaves just Embiid, Paul Reed and Jaden Springer as the only players listed for 2024-25. For now, the Sixers should use some of the cap space to extend Maxey next summer.
“This kid is really good and it’s a great opportunity,” Nurse said.
Bates scores his first NBA points
Eastern Michigan’s Emoni Bates scored his first NBA basket in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 109-91 loss to the New York Knicks in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Bates made a three-pointer from the left corner with a minute left in the first quarter. He finished with nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and six rebounds in 22:58 of playing time.
Julius Randle had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Brunson scored 19 points for the Knicks.
Immanuel Quickley added 18 points off the bench and RJ Barrett had 16 as the Knicks won the first half of a home-and-home series. It was the first meeting between the teams since New York eliminated Cleveland in five games in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
New York native Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points in 29 minutes, and Isaac Okoro and Georges Niang had 11 points each for the Cavaliers, who have lost three straight and are 0-3 at home. Cleveland is 2-8 against the Knicks since the start of last season.
The injury-plagued Cavaliers were without point guard Darius Garland (left hamstring strain) for the third straight game and did not have center Jarrett Allen (left ankle bruise) in uniform this season. Top reserve Caris LeVert also did not play after injuring her left hamstring in Saturday’s game, nor did backup point guard Ty Jerome (sprained right ankle).
More Tuesday games
San Antonio 115, (at) Phoenix 114 (OT): Keldon Johnson stripped Kevin Durant and made a contested layup with 1.2 seconds left to give the Spurs their only lead of the game.
The Spurs, who led by as many as 20 points, ended a nine-game losing streak against Phoenix.
Johnson had 27 points to lead San Antonio.
Top draft pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first five shots before throwing down a sensational dunk in the final seconds of the first half. He scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 28 minutes. Devin Vassell also had 18 for the Spurs.
Durant led Phoenix with 26 points. Eric Gordon scored 20, Grayson Allen made 19 on 5-of-7 3-pointers for the Suns, who played without injured starting guards Bradley Beal and Devin Booker.
(AT) LA Clippers 118, Orlando 102: Paul George scored 27 points, Russell Westbrook added 18 and Los Angeles beat Orlando as future teammate James Harden watched from a suite.
Harden could not be on the Clippers bench because the trade bringing him back to Los Angeles from the Philadelphia 76ers was not finalized.
Bones Hyland and Norman Powell added 18 points each for the Clippers.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 15 points and Franz Wagner with 14 points and eight rebounds. Moritz Wagner scored 13 off the bench.
Embid fined $35,000 for obscene gestures
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was fined $35,000 by the NBA for repeatedly making an obscene gesture during the 76ers’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Former Piston Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced the punishment Tuesday after Embiid, the league’s reigning MVP, performed four crotch shots to the WWE who sent the crowd into a frenzy on Sunday.
The moves came with 2:14 left in the third quarter of the Sixers’ 126-98 victory after Embiid took a full-court pass and made a layup. He finished the game with 35 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and six blocked shots.
