After news broke that James Harden is on his way out of the Philadelphia 76ers, it comes as no surprise that the former league MVP has once again been painted as the bad guy. After all, you can't really blame social media for clowning Harden now that he's forcing his way out of Philly. As it turns out, however, the Sixers have as much to do with this massive development — if not more.

According to a report by NBA guru Shams Charania of The Athletic, it was actually the Sixers who forced Harden's hand, and not the other way around:

“The 76ers made it clear throughout the process that the franchise did not see a long-term future with Harden, sources said,” Shams wrote in his report.

While most Sixers fans wanted to see James Harden and Joel Embiid give it another shot, it is apparent that the front office did not feel that this was the best course of action for the team. They already saw enough last season to determine that the time has come to pull the plug on this botched experiment while also cashing in on Harden now while they still can.

Does the fact that Harden chose to pick up his player option in order to facilitate a trade then make him the good guy here? Despite being told by the team that his services are no longer required, the 33-year-old still opted into his $35.6 million contract for 2023-24 instead of walking away as an unrestricted free agent. The latter would have meant that the Sixers would be left with nothing, but instead, they are now set to pick up a major haul in exchange for the 10-time All-Star.