NBA Rumors: James Harden is reporting to Philadelphia 76ers training camp but he intends to make a ‘mess’ of the situation in an attempt to force a trade.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, James Harden is expected to be present at Philadelphia 76ers training camp. It was surprising considering Harden was a no-show on media day. However, it may not be all good that Harden plans on joining the Sixers for training camp. According to a recent report, Harden has a specific reason for being present at camp. And it’s not to mend fences with the Sixers.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harden intends to make his presence felt at training camp in a not-so-good way. Woj says that Harden hasn’t moved off his stance of wanting a trade and wants to make things so uncomfortable that the Sixers have no other option than to trade him.
“He wants to make the 76ers uncomfortable. So uncomfortable, ultimately, they don’t think they’ll get the best out of him and make a trade.”
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 3, 2023
- Woj on James Harden
(h/t @esidery ) pic.twitter.com/gqQ0t1NHtl
It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out for Harden, but this is a tactic that he’s done before. And, to his credit, for better or worse, it’s worked for him. Whether it will again this time around remains to be seen. But it’s a tactic that Harden is going to embrace again.
How will the Philadelphia 76ers handle the James Harden situation?
The big question is how this story progresses is how the Sixers intend to handle the situation. It’s almost impossible to predict what will happen next but the ball is clearly going to be in the Sixers’ court. I suppose it all depends on how “messy” Harden elects to make things.
There’s a difference between participating and just being selective in who he communicates with and then there’s being a complete distraction that makes having practice difficult. I’m not sure if that’s the lengths Harden is willing to go but, at this point, you can’t be surprised either way.
If there’s one thing we know about Harden, it’s that he’s willing to do almost anything to get his way. He demanded a trade at the start of the offseason, and there has been no traction on one. Clearly, Harden is upset at the fact that he could end up missing the start or even the first half of the season.
And if Harden refuses to play for the Sixers, that means he’s going to have to sit out games. That would likely result in the loss of money (fines) for Harden.
At the very least, the next few days at Sixers camp should be interesting.