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.

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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.

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