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Why James Harden’s reunion with Daryl Morey in Philadelphia went south and
what’s next in their looming divorce

為甚麼Harden與Morey在費城的重聚失敗了且他們分手後會發生甚麼?

作者:Sam Amick(須付費)

http://psce.pw/4zv5qe

James Harden’s days in Philadelphia are unofficially over, with the Sixers
star deciding on Thursday to opt into the $35.6 million option on his
contract for next season en route to asking for a trade, as The Athletic’s
Shams Charania first reported.

According to sources directly involved in the situation on both sides, the
Los Angeles native wants to play for the Clippers and the Sixers are already
in the process of discussing his desired move. Harden is, according to
sources close to him, extremely upset at the way in which the Sixers handled
his possible free agency and has made his dissatisfaction clear to the
organization.

James Harden在費城的日子非正式的結束了，這名76人球星星期四決定執行他36.5M的球員
選項以作為他要求交易的手段。



While it seems likely that he’ll land with the Clippers, it remains to be
seen whether his longtime basketball partner, Sixers president of basketball
operations Daryl Morey, will grant this unexpected wish. Sources say,
however, that there is strong optimism on Harden’s side that it will indeed
happen. Both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are said to be on board with the
idea of Harden potentially joining their core, according to sources.

Even with the playoff frustrations, and the challenge of sharing the
spotlight with someone as dynamic and dominant as reigning MVP Joel Embiid,
there was a sense around the league that the chance to contend for his first
title again might be enough to bring Harden back. Moreover, many believed
that the late-May hiring of Nick Nurse to replace Doc Rivers as coach would
lead to Harden re-signing. But in the end, sources involved in the matter
say, it was a series of silent Sixers signals sent in recent weeks that
compelled Harden to pursue that goal elsewhere yet again.

雖然看起來他應該會加入快艇，但這仍取決於他長期的籃球夥伴--76人籃球營運總裁Daryl
Morey是否要滿足他意料外的意向。但是，Harden的陣營對此情形的發生高度的樂觀。
Kawhi Leonard與Paul George將會是他即將要加入的核心。



When Harden decided to take a significant pay cut nearly a year ago,
declining his $47.4 million player option with the Philadelphia 76ers to sign
a one-plus-one deal in which he would be paid $33 million for the 2022-23
campaign, there was a widespread belief that it was a classic case of quid
pro quo. Harden would give some money back as a way of helping the Sixers
fill out their roster, thereby inching them even closer to a title that has
eluded the franchise since 1983 and Harden for his entire professional career
(circa 2009). And in the following offseason, many presumed, the 10-time
All-Star and former MVP would be handsomely rewarded with a contract more
befitting of his future Hall of Fame talents.

If Harden chose to leave, perhaps rejoining the Houston Rockets franchise
where Morey brought him to town via trade from Oklahoma City in 2012 and
where Harden was widely known to be strongly considering a return, that would
be one thing. But Morey and the Sixers surely would make it clear that they
wanted him back in a big — and expensive — way this time around. Right?

As it turned out, that league-wide expectation was wildly wrong.





對吧?

結果是，整個聯盟的預期嚴重的錯了。

While free agency doesn’t officially begin until Friday evening, a player of
Harden’s caliber could typically expect to have some clarity about the
incumbent franchise’s intentions long before that time arrives. But in
recent weeks and days, sources say, all indications on Harden’s side pointed
to the Sixers forcing him to test the market before they would make an offer
of any kind. The understandable concern for Harden, sources say, was that
Philadelphia was preparing to offer him the kind of short-term, team-friendly
contract that wouldn’t come close to reflecting his stature in the league or
the level of his current play (he averaged 21 points, a league-leading 10.7
assists and 6.1 rebounds in the regular season; 20.3 points, 8.3 assists and
6.2 rebounds in 11 postseason games). Harden, who hired Troy Payne, Mike
Silverman and Brandon Grier of Equity Basketball to be his agents in February
after going more than five years without full-time representation, had no
interest in being put in that compromised negotiating position. And it would
only grow worse as free agency neared.

Sources say the Rockets — with a first-year coach in Ime Udoka, a cadre of
young prospects and $64 million in salary cap space to spend — had already
chosen not to pursue Harden in free agency in recent weeks and thus
eliminated another of his top options. As so many suspected long ago, when
the league-wide chatter about Harden heading back to the rebuilding Rockets
was growing louder by the month, the fit was ultimately deemed incongruous.
There is still no shortage of love for Harden and his game among Rockets
officials, with owner Tilman Fertitta, his son and liaison Patrick, and
general manager Rafael Stone chief among that group, but the choice was made
to take a pass on another Harden chapter.





Harden的球風充滿愛意(因為老闆Tilman Fertitta、他兒子同時也是聯絡人的 Patrick和
GM Rafael Stone仍然在火箭領導)，但他們選擇不將Harden帶入球隊的下一階段。

Harden had serious interest in a pre-Bradley Beal trade to the Phoenix Suns
too, with his old friend Kevin Durant known to be in favor of the possible
reunion. Harden, who went from L.A. to Arizona State en route to the NBA and
still owns a house in the Phoenix area, considers the region a third home of
sorts and was excited by the notion of heading to the Valley of the Sun. But
the Sixers never engaged with the Suns regarding a possible deal, and the
Beal trade with Washington emerged.

Harden was losing leverage by the day. Sources say Morey, meanwhile, insisted
that he was choosing not to discuss free agency before it was permitted by
league rules, in large part because of the price that the Sixers paid for
doing so previously. And in a most ironic twist, his reasoning was rooted in
the moves that Philadelphia had been able to make because of Harden’s choice
to take a pay cut last offseason.

Harden在Bradley Beal交易至太陽之前對太陽有強烈的興趣，因為他的老朋友Kevin




Just eight months ago, the NBA announced that the Sixers had engaged in
premature free agency discussions with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr.
before their signings last summer. As a result, they were docked second-round
picks in 2023 and 2024. The league’s investigation, it should be noted, also
determined that there was no wrongdoing found relating to Harden’s choice to
pass on the $15 million of savings to the Sixers.

No matter the reasoning, Morey’s choice to keep Harden and his camp in the
dark regarding the Sixers’ plans had everything to do with Harden’s choice
to ask out. And as Morey knows perhaps better than anyone, the prospect of
keeping Harden against his wishes — as the Rockets and Brooklyn Nets can
attest — is unpleasant at best and untenable at worst. A deal with the
Clippers may be the only way to salvage this messy situation.






心得:

看完文章

與大部分人覺得的不一樣

其實比較像是76人對Harden不義

跟Riley對Wade的情況比較相似

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※ 作者: EZ78 2023-06-30 19:40:01
※ 文章代碼(AID): #1adhyJFG (NBA)
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1688125203.A.3D0.html