With Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday being traded to the Bucks and Celtics respectively, the Eastern Conference is now loaded at the top, with those two teams as the heavy favorites to meet in the conference finals.
The rest of the East will look to ruin those plans, but health-pending, there is a clear talent gap between those two and the other playoff hopefuls in the conference. The Philadelphia 76ers are among the teams with designs on a deep playoff run, as they want to finally get Joel Embiid past the second round barrier that has existed his entire career thus far. The problem is, their second-best player is currently pushing his way out, as James Harden, hurt by the lack of long-term extension offer this summer, picked up his player option and immediately demanded a trade.
Harden is trying to push his way to Los Angeles, but the Clippers don’t really have much ammunition to go get him and aren’t willing to part with their best young players (namely Terance Mann) to pursue him. The rest of the league isn’t particularly interested in Harden as a rental, and the Sixers aren’t willing to trade him for pennies on the dollar. The result is a stalemate that, unlike the Lillard situation in Portland, has not been resolved as media day gets set to begin in Monday.
When Joel Embiid and the rest of the squad arrive for media day, Harden won’t be with them as he continues to apply pressure for them to trade him — with it certainly seeming like he’ll miss the start of camp as they head to Colorado for some altitude training.
Harden could be subject to a fine for missing media day. The Sixers leave for Colorado later today for several days of training camp at Colorado State University. The Sixers and Clippers have talked recently but there doesn’t appear to be any traction on a trade, sources said. https://t.co/Pt8SjSwjfW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 2, 2023
James Harden is not in Philadelphia for Media Day today as the 10-time All-Star awaits a trade from the 76ers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 2, 2023
As Bobby Marks noted, Harden refusing to participate could eventually lead to him having to deal with the Withholding Services section of the new CBA that could prohibit him from being a free agent, as well as being subject to fines.
A lot to unpack here
1. Withholding Services (see below)
2. Fine for now showing media day
3. Fines if he misses practice
4. Fine for failure to render services if he misses exhibition or regular season games. 1/91.6 of his salary = $389,083 https://t.co/dalyVJS8rf pic.twitter.com/ARKo1ZWhRJ
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) October 2, 2023
We know Harden is more willing to get uncomfortable than most star players and isn’t particularly concerned about the financial ramifications in the immediate with fines. However, the inability to get into free agency next summer could cause him some problems and might result in him joining the team at some point, but that brings an entirely different potential for problems if he is not engaged.
