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James Harden has officially agreed to a new contract with the Philadelphia 76ers after it was revealed he's taking a $15 million pay cut.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Harden and the Sixers have agreed to a two-year contract worth $68.6 million. He will make $33 million in 2022-23 and $35.6 million in 2023-24. However the second year of the deal is a player option, so the veteran guard can opt out and renegotiate a new deal after the upcoming season.
To recall, Harden was due $47.4 million in the upcoming campaign, but he opted out of the deal to give Philly enough room to bolster the roster. In return, they added PJ Tucker and Danuel House this offseason.
Harden declining the $47.4M player option for the 2022-2023 season allowed the Sixers to use the full mid-level exception on free agent PJ Tucker and the bi-annual exception to sign Danuel House.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2022
For what it's worth, it has already been reported before that James Harden's new contract with the Sixers will pay him around $32 million next season with a player option in 2023-24. Prior to Wednesday, though, no official figures were announced as the two parties ironed out the details of the contract.
Harden, of course, has no problem with taking a massive pay cut if it means the Sixers can contend for championships. In fact, it was the Beard himself who suggested getting what's left after the Sixers sign all the players they need.
“I had conversations with Daryl, and it was explained how we could get better and what the market value was for certain players. I told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we needed to sign and give me whatever is left over,” Harden shared. “This is how bad I want to win. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this stage. I’m willing to take less to put us in position to accomplish that.”
It certainly looks like Harden is committed to the Sixers. Hopefully, though, his sacrifice bears fruit this time around.
