As the Philadelphia 76ers continue to move forward toward free agency, all eyes will be on James Harden and what he decides to do. The Beard will likely decide between staying with the Sixers or a reunion with the Houston Rockets and he is reportedly torn on that decision.
Harden has been linked in going back to Houston since Christmas and those reports have not gone away. The old saying is “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” and it does appear that Harden will head back to the Rockets.
Paul Pierce, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008, hoppped on “Ticket and The Truth”. He gave his thoughts on Harden and the Sixers moving forward in free agency and whether he would sign The Beard:
It depends on the number and the years. I don’t know if you can give James a maximum contract right now because then he’s gonna kind of like handicap your future, you know? And your flexibility because you got to get better. You got to add something to there.
Pierce would then go on to say that the Sixers still need to add something to their roster in order to take the next step forward. He didn’t specify who or what, but the point remained.
The Harden situation is going to be interesting. Obviously, Philadelphia would like to keep him around. He is a future Hall of Famer and he is still an impactful player. He led the league in assists in 2023 at 10.7 per game, but is he worth $200 million at this stage? Probably not.
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire