James Harden Plans to Play for 76ers, Talks Morey Relationship amid Trade Rumors

James Harden still has hard feelings toward the Philadelphia 76ers' front office—president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, in particular—but he intends to play for the team as long as he's on the roster.

Speaking to reporters after Friday's practice, Harden explained his plan was to "retire a Sixer," but the "front office didn't have that in their future plans."

Harden noted he's still ramping up to play in Philly's preseason finale against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 20 and when the regular season starts, but his fractured relationship with the front office can't be fixed because "it's like a marriage when you lose trust in someone" and there's no way to repair the damage.

This has been a consistent sentiment expressed by Harden ever since August when the 76ers reportedly decided to end trade talks with other teams and go into camp with him on the roster.

A couple of days after that report came out, Harden said at a marketing event in China that Morey was "a liar" and he would "never" be part of an organization with Morey again.

The NBA fined Harden $100,000 for those comments since he was indicating he wouldn't perform the services required under his player contract.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Harden told league investigators his quip about Morey being a liar was a reference to the Sixers executive saying the team would trade him "quickly" after he opted in to his $35.6 million salary for the 2023-24 season.

Harden opted in on June 29 and was going to work with the 76ers to find a trade partner, preferably the Los Angeles Clippers.

No deal has materialized to this point in part because Philadelphia hasn't been satisfied with the offers it has received. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported this week the Clippers' most recent offer was a first-round pick, a pick swap and the expiring contracts of Marcus Morris and Robert Covington.

On Thursday's episode of NBA Today (h/t Bryan Toporek of Liberty Ballers), Wojnarowski said Morey's "motivation" is to be able to take whatever he gets from the Clippers and flip it "for another All-Star-level guard" to replace Harden.

The 76ers are in a difficult position because Harden and Joel Embiid make them one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Trading away Harden takes away a significant piece of their offense, and there's no obvious immediate replacement available.

Things can always change during the season and leading up to the trade deadline. Few people would have predicted Harden was going to be made available by the Brooklyn Nets going into the 2021-22 season, but he was dealt to the Sixers in February 2022.

If a star player becomes disgruntled during the season, Morey might be able to find a solution to Harden's trade request that satisfies everyone involved.

For now, though, the best thing for all parties is Harden being on the court with the rest of the 76ers for the regular-season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 26.