The Philadelphia 76ers traded 10-time All-Star James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, according to ESPN and The Athletic. The swap ends a standoff between the Sixers and Harden, who in August called Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a liar and vowed, “I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
The 76ers also sent PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev to L.A. and received Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin and Marcus Morris in return. In addition, the 76ers are expected to receive multiple draft picks, including a pair of first-rounders.
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The trade pairs Harden with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook, his teammate in Oklahoma City and Houston. The quartet of players, who are all between 32 and 34 years old and grew up in southern California, have built deep resumes on the court with a combined 29 All-Star appearances and a pair of MVPs (Westbrook in 2017 and Harden in 2018). Leonard is the only one with an NBA title, having won in both San Antonio (2014) and Toronto (2019).
The players have also scored off the court, as all four rank among the top 12 all time for career playing salary, according to Spotrac. Harden ($342 million) ranks fifth all time, followed by Westbrook ($340 million) in sixth, George ($305 million) in ninth, and Leonard ($278 million) in 12th. LeBron James is first at $479 million. Sponsorships have added millions more to their bank accounts, with Harden, George and Leonard all ranked among the top earners this season for salary and endorsements.
Trade talks between the teams started in July after Harden opted in to his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season. Harden and Morey had been close from their years in Houston together, and when the 76ers traded for the point guard in February 2022. Harden signed a short-term, below-market contract last summer to help the Sixers land other players under the salary cap, and most people thought the team would sign him to a long-term deal this summer. Harden called Morey a liar at an Adidas event in China, and this month in his first public comments since joining the team at training camp said, “When you lose trust in someone, it’s like a marriage … you lose trust in someone.”
The 34-year-old did not play in Philadelphia’s first three games, in which guard Tyrese Maxey averaged more than 30 points per contest. Maxey was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first week of the NBA season. Morey is expected to use the assets acquired from the Clippers to land another marquee player to pair with Maxey and 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. The players acquired by the 76ers are all under contracts that expire after this season, which would create between $50 million and $60 million in salary cap space based on the current roster.
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