{"id":343108,"date":"2023-10-31T19:02:31","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T20:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=343108"},"modified":"2023-10-31T21:01:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T21:01:57","slug":"disgruntled-nba-star-ecstatic-over-mega-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=343108","title":{"rendered":"Disgruntled NBA star 'ecstatic' over mega trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Harden<\/a> publicly called his boss a liar and swore he would never again play for the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So he won't \u2014 the 10-time All-Star with a history of trade demands only slightly shorter than his signature beard is on the move to this fifth NBA<\/a> team, chasing his first championship this time in his native California.<\/p>\n

Harden joins Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook to shape a core group of veterans trying to win the Los Angeles Clippers their first NBA championship in franchise history.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> The gun NRL players your club could lose from November 1<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Grim pay accusations rock team's World Cup campaign<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Axed club launches audacious bid to re-enter NRL<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The 76ers are simply trying to move on from the Harden headache and continue their own long shot bid at a title behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid and star-in-waiting Tyrese Maxey.<\/p>\n

\"BOSTON,<\/p>\n

According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, James Harden is "ecstatic" to be joining the Clippers and could even possibly be in attendance during Wednesday afternoon's (AEDT) game against the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen when Harden would actually play his first game for the Clippers. There is speculation it could come against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday AEDT but that would be cutting it very close in terms of a physical.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1719233117100142839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/ramonashelburne\/status\/1719250588398235834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1719245795004699072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

The final haul was yet to be settled \u2014 coach Nick Nurse and Maxey danced around the trade following practice \u2014 but the key parts of the trade were this: the 76ers sent Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petru\u0161ev to Los Angeles for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected first-round draft pick, two second-round picks, a 2029 draft-pick swap and an additional first-rounder from a third team, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the final details of the trade are not yet official.<\/p>\n

Maxey texted the 34-year-old Harden when news of the deal broke overnight \u2014 Nurse said he slept through the trade call \u2014 and thanked his former teammate for his contributions in 79 total regular-season games with the 76ers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him I loved him, told him I appreciated him,\u201d Maxey said. \u201cOne thing he really installed in me was confidence. I've always been a confident person. He made me be even more confident than I already was. All I can do is appreciate him for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maxey turns 23 on Saturday and has improved numbers in each of his first three seasons \u2014 8.5 points to 17.5 to 20.3 to 30.3 points and his first Eastern Conference Player of the Week award in a small sample this season. That improvement has the 76ers finally, firmly believing he can be the superstar to pair with Embiid and remain contenders. Not Ben Simmons. Not Harden.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything's been going well, the flow's been well, the organisation's been great, the team believes, the coach believes in himself,\u201d Maxey said. \u201cEverything's been great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Still, the longer the Harden melodrama lingered in Philly, the greater chance the situation would eventually implode. Harden \u2014 now traded by Houston, Brooklyn and the 76ers in each of the past three seasons \u2014 had long wanted to play in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Harden and team president Daryl Morey, who was not available for comment, were first allies when they were in Houston. Harden was a league MVP and had scoring titles for the Rockets.<\/p>\n

But when the Rockets went into a rebuild, Harden issued his first ultimatum and forced his way to Brooklyn in 2021. He joined Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a \u201cBig Three\u201d that was never very big. The trio was socked by injuries and other controversies and played only 18 games together before Harden wanted out.<\/p>\n

So it was off to Philly at the 2022 trade deadline in a deal for Simmons.<\/p>\n

He was reunited with Morey and seemed comfortable in his role as a playmaker while the offense ran through Embiid. Harden even declined his $74.3 million option in June 2022, saying he wanted to give the 76ers financial flexibility to improve their roster and compete for a championship. He signed a below-market deal worth slightly more than $107 million, paying him about $52 million last season with a $56.1 million player option for this one.<\/p>\n

Harden led the NBA in assists last season with 10.7 per game, but it was his 22 total points in Games 6 and 7 losses that doomed the Sixers when they lost in the second round to Boston.<\/p>\n

\"BOSTON,<\/p>\n

Part of Harden\u2019s complaint with the Sixers stemmed from the belief he should have earned a long-term contract. When he didn't, Harden was determined to sever ties with the Sixers, and called Morey a liar at an August promotional event in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he\u2019s a part of,\u201d Harden said at the event. \u201cLet me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organisation that he\u2019s a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Eastern Conference powerhouses Boston and Milwaukee made bold pick-ups in the summer, the 76ers instead learned that Harden desired a trade to the Clippers.<\/p>\n

He was a late arrival to training camp and continued to practice with the 76ers until he was told to stay home for the team\u2019s first two road games in the wake of the trade demand. The lone time he spoke at practice, Harden said that his fractured relationship with Morey could not be repaired \u2014 comparing it to a broken marriage. Nurse insisted Harden would not play until he met certain conditioning requirements. Harden wore street clothes and watched Sunday's home opener from the bench.<\/p>\n

Harden was scheduled to practice with the 76ers on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Instead, Harden is on his way to California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Harden publicly called his boss a liar and swore he would never again play for the Philadelphia 76ers. So he won't \u2014 the 10-time […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":292057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343108"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343113,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343108\/revisions\/343113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/292057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}