James Harden May Have Secured A Wink-wink Future Guarantee From Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers and future Hall of Famer James Harden were able to recently come to an agreement on a deal that keeps The Beard in the City of Brotherly Love for at least one season. The second season of his deal is a player option that he could decline and work out a new deal.

Harden took roughly $14 million less than he would have made if he accepted his $47.3 million player option for the 2022-23 season. The Sixers were able to take the money they saved from the Harden deal and brought in PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. in free agency so Philadelphia was able to benefit from Harden’s charity.

However, due to Harden’s close relationship with president Daryl Morey, there appears to be a wink-wink agreement in place so that he can make back some of the money he gave back with this current deal. He could just opt out and work out a huge max deal in the summer of 2023 after he proves himself capable again in the 2022-23 season.

Per NBA veteran reporter Marc Stein via his substack:

As covered previously in this cyberspace, there is a suspicion in some corners of the league that Harden had to have consented to this arrangement because he also secured a wink-wink guarantee about the future — meaning a promise from Morey that would allow Harden to recoup what he left on the table this offseason by declining the player option for next season in his new Sixers deal and then signing a whopper of a five-year deal in the summer of 2023 at almost 34. Such speculation is inevitable given how close Morey and Harden clearly are, but I’ve also heard plenty around the league question whether the Sixers, beyond the fact that these types of arrangements are against league rules, could actually bring themselves to give Harden any assurances.

Harden averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists, and 7.1 rebounds in his first stint with the Sixers after the trade. While those numbers would be terrific for just about any player in this league, because Harden is who he is and has earned a well-deserved reputation of being an all-time great, those numbers just aren’t on par with his overall career.

The big key to remember is that Harden put up those numbers while dealing with a bad hamstring. He has had this whole summer to rest the nagging injury and he is now expected to get back to doing what he did before which is put up some big offensive numbers. He recently promised that he will be explosive again on the offensive end and he will have his big opportunity to prove that in the 2022-23 season.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!