NBA Rumors: James Harden plans to holdout from Sixers training camp

NBA Rumors: If he’s not traded by the time the season starts, James Harden doesn’t plan on showing up to the Philadelphia 76ers training camp.

The cat is out of the bag. The Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden are officially at odds with each other. Even though there are still roughly six weeks for both sides to figure things out before the start of the season, there’s a sense around the league that this could end up getting uglier before anything is settled.

Over the weekend, it was reported that the Sixers were going to end Harden trade talks and carry him onto the roster heading into the start of the season. This was considered big news since Harden decided to opt into the final year of his contract with the Sixers with the understanding or agreement that the team would work with his camp toward a trade – and preferably to the LA Clippers.

While the Sixers did attempt to engage with the Clippers to trade Harden to LA, the two sides failed to agree to a deal. It appears that the Sixers believed they were too far apart to agree to a deal before the start of the season. This move could actually also be considered a negotiating ploy from the Sixers.

Nevertheless, it leaves Harden in an awkward situation. And according to a recent report, there’s a strong chance it gets a lot more awkward once training camps open. Per The Athletic (subscription required), at least for now, Harden doesn’t plan on reporting to training camp when it opens for the Sixers.

James Harden has been here before

If this does end up coming to fruition, this is a similar tactic that we saw from Harden when he demanded a trade away from the Houston Rockets in late-2020. He eventually reported to training camp late and out of shape. He was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets a couple of months later.

There’s still time for Harden and the Sixers to figure something out but the optics don’t look great at the moment. Harden wants to find his way to the Clippers and, it appears, he’s willing to make things messy in Philadelphia to make that happen.

I suppose the big question over the next few weeks is how messy he’s willing to make things. The Sixers have called Harden’s bluff. What will be his next move?

And what potential impact could it have on the Damian Lillard situation, which remains very much unresolved?