NBA Insider Offers Latest on Sixers' Daryl Morey, James Harden

Ever since Daryl Morey signed on to become the President of Basketball Operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, he has targeted James Harden. Coming off a long and successful run with the Houston Rockets, Morey wanted to continue his partnership with Harden in the City of Brotherly Love.

Unfortunately for Morey, his first pursuit of Harden was unsuccessful. Instead of sending Harden to the Sixers, the Houston Rockets chose to trade with the Brooklyn Nets, allowing the big three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Harden to take form.

However, it wouldn’t be long before Harden grew disgruntled in his new situation. Roughly a year after forcing his way out of Houston, Harden was seeking out a trade once again. To no surprise, Morey and the Sixers were involved, and it wasn’t a swing and a miss.

As the Sixers traded away Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry, and draft picks, Morey reunited with Harden in Philadelphia, and all was well again. Fast forward two years later, and Harden is disgruntled for a third time and now forcing his way out of Philadelphia.

In the past, Morey’s influence might’ve been enough to keep Harden happy and around. These days, it seems the President of Basketball Ops doesn’t have the ear of Harden.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Morey and Harden’s relationship is not as strong as it once was.

“The relationship between James Harden and Daryl Morey is essentially severed, it’s essentially fractured throughout this process.”

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“There’s no longer that valve of open-minded, open-ended trust that we’ve seen over the course of 692 games that Daryl Morey and James Harden have been together in Houston and in Philly,” Charania said on Monday. “When James Harden opted in, that decision to work together on a trade, that stemmed from James Harden believing that there was no real intention from the Sixers in giving him a long-term offer as a free agent. This time around, there’s not that relationship between Daryl Morey and James Harden. It’s nowhere close to being on solid ground.”

Harden’s initial plan this offseason was to decline his $35 million player option for the 2023-2024 season and look for a multi-year deal in free agency from the Sixers or the Rockets. While a reunion out in Houston seemed to be the likely scenario for a while, the Rockets took a liking to Fred VanVleet after he declined his player option with the Toronto Raptors.

When it became clear that Harden’s Houston return was more unlikely than not, all of the attention was focused on a return to the 76ers. With Philly unwilling to negotiate a long-term deal with Harden, the ten-time All-Star guard picked up his contract option for next season and forced a trade.

Harden’s trade market contains one serious suitor in the Los Angeles Clippers. So far, the Clippers and the Sixers haven’t seen eye-to-eye in trade talks. Therefore, Harden remains untraded. While the Sixers might hope for a Harden return, the latest update on Harden’s feelings towards the head of the front office doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

We’ve seen numerous times in the past that when Harden is ready for a change, he’ll do what he can to make it happen. While the Daryl Morey connection might’ve been strong in the past, that’s no longer beneficial for the 76ers. As training camp slowly inches closer, it seems it’s only a matter of when and not if Harden is moved to his third team in four seasons.