NBA Rumors: James Harden is expected to show up to Philadelphia 76ers training camp.
When the Philadelphia 76ers opened training camp with media day, there was a very obvious no-show. After months of speculation after making a trade demand, it was no surprise that James Harden elected not to be at the start of Philadelphia’s training camp. However, it appears that his plans may have changed. At least for now.
The recent reporting surrounding Harden now says that he’s expected to show up to the Sixers’ training camp, which is taking place in Colorado. There’s a growing expectation that, at the very least, Harden will be in the building when Philadelphia takes the floor for their next training camp practice Wednesday.
ESPN Sources: Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden didn’t practice at Colorado State University on Tuesday but he’s expected to arrive in Colorado as soon as today to join training camp.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 3, 2023
Of course, the big question is whether anything else has changed when it comes to his demands. For now, we can assume no and that this move to show up to camp likely has more to do with avoiding fines from the team than anything.
Does James Harden showing up to training camp mean he’ll play for the Philadelphia 76ers?
My guess, without much inside information, is that once Harden realized that the Sixers weren’t going to waive the fines for not being present at training camp, he decided to show up. How much he’ll participate in training camp remains to be seen.
Harden has been on record saying that he has no desire to play for an organization that Daryl Morey is a part of. And assuming he isn’t getting fired between now and the next practice, Harden would essentially be going back on that promise.
This was likely always going to be the next step for both sides once it became evident that Philly wasn’t going to find a trade. How each side handles Harden being present at camp is the next interesting layer to this storyline.
The next few days should give us an indication of what to expect next from both the Sixers and Harden. However, it seems that no trade is close for Harden and the Sixers. With the start of the regular season just a few weeks away, I can’t help but wonder what Harden reporting means in the big picture.
In an ideal world, there would be a way to salvage the relationship between Harden and the Sixers. At this point, both need each other to a certain extent. Philadelphia isn’t a contender without Harden and Harden had a good thing going with Joel Embiid. It’s unfortunate it’s all come to this.