Report: Sixers’ James Harden expected to pick up $35.6M option as team begins exploring trade scenarios

Well, this isn’t exactly how we expected the James Harden saga to end with the Sixers.

Per multiple sources, James Harden is expected to pick up his $36.5 million player option for this year and work with the Sixers’ brass to find a suitable trade partner.

Breaking: James Harden is picking up his $35.6 million player option and working with the 76ers to explore trade scenarios, sources tell @wojespn.

It’s expected that Harden has played his last game for Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com/8f3RvrGlwE

— ESPN (@espn) June 29, 2023

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Obviously, the question now becomes which team or teams are vying for Harden’s services?

All offseason we heard about the possibility of Harden reuniting with the Houston Rockets, but that was always framed in the context of Harden opting-out of his contract and becoming a free agent. Now that he’ll have to be traded, Houston seems like a less likely scenario.

The team generating the most buzz at the moment is the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Los Angeles Clippers have expressed interest in trading for James Harden, according to a league source

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 29, 2023

Most of the initial speculation is focused on Paul George, but Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.

Nevertheless, Harden’s tenure in Philadelphia has officially come to an end it seems. While a good portion of the Sixers fanbase was rooting for this outcome, I’m not sure any of them expected it to happen quite like this.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports