All 76ers

Sixers’ Patrick Beverley Addresses James Harden Situation

James Harden's new teammate addresses the recent trade talks.
Justin Grasso|
Sixers’ Patrick Beverley Addresses James Harden Situation
Sixers’ Patrick Beverley Addresses James Harden Situation

In this story:

Philadelphia 76ers

This summer, the Philadelphia 76ers signed another former member of the Houston Rockets. After adding former teammates of James Harden last offseason with PJ Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and Montrezl Harrell, the Sixers brought on Patrick Beverley this summer as well.

Beverley, who is known to be close to Harden, has been linked to the Sixers several times over the last couple of seasons. Now that he’s officially in the building after signing his deal on Sunday afternoon, Beverley fielded questions about his current teammate on Monday.

Nearly two weeks back, Harden requested a trade from the 76ers. After realizing that a multi-year contract in his desirable price range wasn’t going to come from the Sixers or the Houston Rockets, Harden picked up his player option for the 2023-2024 season, hoping to get moved.

Hoping to play with Harden again, Beverley made a pitch to Harden on Monday afternoon.

“James, I love you, bro. Stay!” Beverley said while facing a scrum of reporters. James is a really good friend of mine. A really, really, really good friend of mine. Our moms are best friends. Me coming into the NBA with Houston, it was me and him. Six years, my star buddy. So I’m very familiar with James, and I’m excited. I’m excited to kind of get it going. He knows I’m here. So we’ll see.”

At this point in the offseason, nobody knows how the Harden saga will play out. When Harden initially requested a trade, he was linked to the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks. While it seemed like the Clippers were his likely landing spot, those talks have faded for the time being.

Lately, Harden’s been spotted with his Sixers teammates and seems to be on good terms with everybody. Still, his status playing for the 76ers next season remains uncertain.

If you ask the MVP center Joel Embiid, he understands the situation but hopes Harden has a change of heart. Clearly, Beverley would like to reunite on the court with Harden as his teammate for the first time since the 2016-2017 season. 

Will Beverley’s presence influence Harden to return? Eventually, we’ll find out for sure. 

Published
Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s Philadelphia 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia Threads: @JGrassoMedia

Share on XFollow @JGrasso_
Home/News