NBA Rumors: 1 Contender has pulled out of James Harden sweepstakes?

NBA Rumors: One Eastern Conference contender that makes a lot of sense for James Harden isn’t trying to trade for him.

With the start of the NBA regular season just a couple of weeks away, James Harden remains a Philadelphia 76er. However, the expectation is that it won’t last much longer. Even though Harden reported and participated in training camp, he doesn’t want to play for the Sixers this season. From all indications, that sentiment hasn’t changed even though he’s playing nice guy with the Sixers.

It’s been widley known that Harden has spent all offseason trying to force his way to the LA Clippers. Even though the Clippers and Sixers have negotiated throughout the last few months, there’s no indication that a deal is close. And if we learned anything from the Damian Lillard situation, it’s that it would be foolish to discount the possibility of a non-Clippers team emerging as a possible landing spot for Harden.

Quite frankly, the Sixers probably wouldn’t be all that opposed to it. Especially if it helps create somewhat of a bidding war for Harden. If that does end up being the case, there’s one potential Harden landing spot that we can count out – the Miami Heat.

According to a recent report, the Heat have not had serious discussions with the Sixers regarding Harden and it is “highly unlikely’ that will change.

James Harden would be a good fit for the Miami Heat

This is not exactly all that surprising, but you can’t help but wonder if this could end up being a big mistake. While there are certainly questions about his fit in Heat culture, if the franchise truly believes in itself, it should believe that Harden’s talent and Heat culture could create something special.

Add in the fact that Harden would essentially be a rental, and it’s hard not to feel as if the Heat is missing an opportunity to rebound from an offseason after missing out on both Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard.

Maybe the asking price is the turnoff for the Heat. That has been the story of the Heat missing out on the last few disgruntled superstars – whether it’s Miami not having enough assets or not willing to go all-in for a specific player.

If the Sixers are asking for two first-round picks, I’d understand the hesitance from the Heat’s perspective. After all, it would be pretty short-sighted for the Heat to burn two future first round picks for a rental player.

Either way, it seems as if the Heat is one team the Clippers don’t have to worry about when it comes to acquiring Harden. Even though it would be pretty interesting to see him playing for the Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra.