James Harden has returned to practice with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Although he is back on the court with his teammates, he will not travel with the team ahead of their season opener on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Chris Haynes.
Instead, Harden will stay in Philadelphia. That was a Sixers decision, per Shams Charania, who added that Harden was prepared to travel on their road trip, which includes a game against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Harden will not play in that game either.
Harden, who has pushed for a trade all summer, skipped the Sixers’ media day, has been absent for large portions of training camp and did not play in a single preseason game. Most recently, he has been in Houston attending to a personal matter and has missed multiple practices in the last week.
But for all of Harden’s escalation tactics, which included taking a $100,000 fine after calling Daryl Morey a “liar” over the summer, no deal appears imminent. Harden’s preferred destination is the Los Angeles Clippers, but the two sides are at an impasse on trade talks.
The most recent intel from Sam Amick suggests that Morey would be willing to send Harden to the Clippers in exchange for a first-round pick, a first-round pick swap, salary filler and Terance Mann. Still, the Clippers have maintained that Mann is untouchable. Morey responded by saying the Clippers were being “unserious,” and in turn asking for Paul George instead — a request the Clippers immediately shut down.
Over the summer, Morey was steadfast about his asking price for Harden: “If we don’t get either a very good player or something we can turn into a very good player, we’re just not going to do it.”
A first-round pick, a first-round pick swap and a valuable role player like Mann might not be enough to flip into a very good player, but it at least gives the Sixers a chance. Anything less would not. And as we’ve seen with the Ben Simmons saga, Morey is willing to wait, even if that makes things uncomfortable for the rest of the team.
Harden’s return to practice on Wednesday is further evidence that he won’t be dealt any time soon. At this point, his best chance of actually getting traded may, ironically, be to suit up for the Sixers. His value around the league right now is as low as it’s ever been, but if he puts together a few good weeks or months, that will change. The Clippers might decide they’re willing to give up Mann after all, or another team might come in with a better offer.
It’s unclear when he’ll be ready to play again if he does decide to go that route, however. After such an uninvolved preseason he’s going to need time to get back into game shape.