After falling to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers immediately addressed their future by parting ways with veteran head coach Doc Rivers.
Along with the storied NBA franchise starting the coaching search, Philadelphia will have to figure out what to do with superstar guard James Harden.
All signs point to Harden leaving the 76ers this summer in NBA free agency, with the consensus being that he’ll end up back with the Houston Rockets.
It seems as though the 76ers may know Harden’s intention to leave and aren’t wasting any time and energy on trying to re-sign him, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reporting that Philadelphia doesn’t want to give him a max contract via NBA Central.
The 76ers have not shown an appetite to pay James Harden the max, per @WindhorstESPN pic.twitter.com/FzzbSJM9Ga
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 24, 2023
Harden is coming off a season in which he wasn’t named an All-Star and played only 58 games, averaging 21.5 points, 10.7 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 44.1% from the floor and 38.5% from beyond the arc.
Although these are terrible stats for Harden, it’s debatable whether he’s worth a max contract at this point and if he’s even a great fit alongside reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
The only major issue here is that Embiid is in the prime years of his career, and the 76ers should be in win-now mode, but if they lose Harden or let him walk, this free-agent class this summer is extremely weak, and they might not be able to replace his production.
It’ll be interesting to see what direction the 76ers take this summer and if Harden is truly headed back to Houston.
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