James Harden no-shows at Sixers practice, reportedly in Houston

The Philadelphia 76ers held practice on Wednesday, but they did it without James Harden.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill and Jake Fischer, Harden was a no-show at practice and is currently in Houston instead of Philadelphia.

Harden has wanted out of Philly since the summer, when he reportedly got frustrated that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey didn’t offer him a max deal quickly enough. We don’t know what kind of contract Morey would have offered Harden, because Harden picked up his one-year option before that could even happen.

Right after Harden picked up the option, he reportedly demanded a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. But since Harden was already committed to the Sixers for the 2023-24 season, he had zero leverage. Morey was under no obligation to trade him and unless Harden wanted to hold out (and in the process lose a lot of money and possibly even his free agent status next year), he could do nothing but wait.

Well, Harden could do one other thing: be loud. During a trip to China in August, Harden told a group of schoolchildren that “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” The NBA fined Harden $100,000 for his comments, the maximum fine they can give.

Harden had been practicing with the Sixers before this week. He showed up to training camp on time and had been doing his work. He said last week that he planned to “work [his] butt off” for the team, but his relationship with Morey couldn’t be repaired despite the long history they share, which began when they were both with the Houston Rockets.

Even though Harden wants to leave the Sixers for the Clippers, he may not be going anywhere any time soon. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Sixers and Clippers aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a trade package for Harden, and that there’s still a “significant gap” between the offers.