NBA Trade Rumors: Pros and cons of Philadelphia 76ers not trading James Harden

Con No. 2: Trading him into the season would equate to a lost season

At the same time, if the Sixers do end up keeping James Harden on the roster heading into the season, there’s one sign to watch for that would indicate this move being a mistake – and that’s if there’s a correlating in-season trade of Harden. At that point, it would be too late. The Sixers being willing to carry Harden on the roster heading into training camp is a negotiating tactic until training camp begins. At that point, they are married to this roll of the dice.

And if the team did end up going back on this decision, that would indicate something bad happened. In other words, if the Sixers entered the season with Harden on the roster and then decided to trade him in-season, that would mean that something terrible must’ve happened. It would essentially be the Sixers waving the white flag on the season.

That’s a big risk that the Sixers probably shouldn’t be able to sign up for. Philadelphia has to know Harden’s track record. And calling his bluff may not be the best idea for this team in the long run. The Sixers taking Harden into the season only to trade him after a month or two would be a lot worse than taking the pennies on the dollar offer for him now.