James Harden's future with the Philadelphia 76ers remains unclear. While he has a player option for the 2022-23 season, he is also eligible to sign a max extension of up to $270 million. Certainly at age 32 and after showing signs of decline, the superstar guard will hope to get that max money while he can.
The general belief is that Daryl Morey and the Sixers will give that max contract to Harden in a bid to keep the Sixers competing for the championship. However, Brian Windhorst of ESPN pumped the breaks on those talks and shared what most executives around the NBA think about the Harden contract situation.
“Nobody in the NBA believes that the Sixers are going to give James Harden a max contract,” Windhorst said on ESPN's Get Up.
As Windhorst furthered, what James Harden does and accepts in contract negotiations will be a major factor in the Sixers' offseason efforts. If the superstar guard doesn't take a pay cut, Philly will have a hard time building a championship-caliber squad.
However, as mentioned, Harden might be looking for that one last big payday before his decline becomes clearer. He failed to live up to his usual standards in the 2022 playoffs, raising fears that his best days are behind him.
Daryl Morey has already made a firm stance that they want Harden to stay, but the question now is: for how much?
Follow Us
Subscribe