James Harden Not Leaving 76ers? Report Hints Star Could Stay Put

James Harden might have wanted to be traded by the Philadelphia 76ers, but that doesn’t mean that’s going to be exactly how it plays out.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported June 29 that Harden and the 76ers were working together to try and find a trade that worked for both parties. At the time, Wojnarowski said it was expected that Harden played his final game in Philadelphia and included the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks as potential suitors.

Well, nothing has materialized for Harden, who opted into his one-year, $36 million contract for the 2023-24 campaign. And it had ESPN colleague Dave McMenamin singing a different tune Monday while appearing on “The Dan Patrick Show.”

“The signals right now is that he will be back with the Philadelphia 76ers,” McMenamin told host Dan Patrick. “Obviously, he opted into that last year of his deal and he didn’t find the market he was expecting, certainly with the Houston Rockets, they had their money elsewhere with Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet.

“But as of right now, with certainly no momentum appearing on a deal to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Philadelphia obviously still needing what he does without finding a replacement for him, it looks like there’s a pathway for him to come back to the Sixers next year.”

A 10-time NBA All-Star, Harden has arrived in Philadelphia ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline. He’s played 79 games with the Sixers in that span and averaged 21 points and 10.6 assists.