The Sixers Should Have No Regrets About This Controversial Free-Agent Decision

Now that James Harden and the Cleveland Cavaliers have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, it's open season on another round of Sixers Revisionist History.

In 2022-23, the Harden- and Joel Embiid-led Sixers went 54-28 during the regular season. Embiid won his first MVP that year. The Sixers were also up 3-2 over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals before choking in Game 6 and not even getting off the bus in Game 7.

That summer, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Harden would decline his $35.6 million player option and re-sign with the Sixers on a long-term contract. However, communication between Harden and the Sixers broke down in the days leading up to free agency—the Sixers claim they were trying to avoid another tampering penalty—which infuriated Harden to the point that he picked up his player option and immediately demanded a trade.

One month later, he was over in China calling then-team president Daryl Morey a liar in front of a bunch of kids.

With Harden having helped lead this year's Cavs to the Eastern Conference Finals, should the Sixers regret not working out a deal with Harden in 2023? While it's easy to imagine an alternate timeline where Harden, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey guide the Sixers to greater heights over the past few years, they'd arguably in an even worse place now than they already are.

The Harden breakup

After a protracted standoff, the Sixers finally traded Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers one week into the 2023-24 season. The Clippers never made it past the first round of the playoffs with him.

At this year's trade deadline, when it became clear that the Clippers didn't envision him as a long-term part of their future, Harden once again began angling for a trade. The Clippers sent him to the Cavaliers in exchange for Darius Garland and a second-round pick.

Harden has a $42.3 million player option for the 2026-27 season, although this time, he doesn't seem likely to exercise it. Prior to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported "there is an understanding that the Cavs plan to work out a new deal to retain Harden."

Garland is signed to a 25% max contract for two more years, and the Cavaliers are already in second-apron hell. They figure to re-sign Harden for less than the $42.2 million that Garland is set to make next season, which could help alleviate some of the financial pressure on them.

That didn't seem like an option for the Sixers back in 2023.

After the Sixers traded Harden to the Clippers, he told Sam Amick of The Athletic that Morey had told him that the Sixers planned to offer him a max contract. However, that offer never came, as Harden picked up his player option before the Sixers legally had a chance to begin communicating with him. (The NBA has since changed its rules so teams can communicate with their own free agents ahead of the official start of free agency.)

Morey seemingly read the market well with Harden, who still has yet to sign a max deal since leaving Philadelphia. The irony is that he misread the market the following summer when he gave Paul George a four-year, $211.6 million max deal in free agency and handed Embiid a three-year max extension that has yet to even begin.

Had the Sixers re-signed Harden to a max or near-max deal in 2023, they'd be pot-committed to the Harden-Embiid-Maxey triumvirate moving forward. They still could have signed Kelly Oubre Jr. to a minimum deal that offseason, but they otherwise would have had limited financial flexibility to round out their supporting cast, much like they do now.

That likely would have left them with an even thinner wing/forward rotation than they have now. That's not a recipe to win in today's NBA, no matter how dominant the two-man game between Harden and Embiid could have been.

We also might not have seen this version of Maxey emerge.

No VJ Maxx?

With Harden out of the picture, Maxey slid over to become the Sixers' full-time starting point guard in 2023-24. He averaged a career-high 25.9 points and 6.2 assists per game that season en route to his first All-Star nod and the NBA's Most Improved Player award.

Little did we know at the time, that was only the start of Maxey's ascendance.

Maxey might not be a traditional pass-first point guard like Chris Paul, but he's settled into the role of the No. 2 banana behind Embiid for the past few seasons. After Embiid missed most of the 2024-25 campaign due to complications from his meniscus injury, Maxey took it upon himself this past offseason to prepare for life as a No. 1 option.

The one silver lining of the Sixers' lost 2024-25 season was that they finished with the NBA's fifth-worst record. They owed their 2025 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it landed outside of the top six, so they entered the draft lottery with roughly a 64% chance of keeping the pick and a 36% chance of conveying it.

Luckily, the lottery gods smiled upon the Sixers and gifted them the No. 3 overall pick. They stood pat and used that pick on Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, who already looks like an All-Star in the making.

Had the Sixers re-signed Harden in 2023, Maxey likely would have continued blossoming as an elite three-level scorer and secondary ball-handler, but he might not have been quite as empowered as he has been over the past few seasons both on and off the court. He took it upon himself to assert himself as a leader this year, but there's no guarantee he would have done the same if he was behind both Embiid and Harden in the Sixers' pecking order.

Harden's presence also might have saved the Sixers from the floor falling out on them like it did last season. That means they likely would have conveyed their 2025 first-round pick to OKC rather instead of keeping it.

Maxey and Edgecombe are giving the Sixers hope for their eventual post-Embiid era. Had the Sixers re-signed Harden in 2023, Maxey might have been the only young blue-chip talent on their roster three years later.

While the Harden trade saga was agonizing at the time, it undeniably set the Sixers up better for the future than re-signing him would have. Had they re-signed Harden, they wouldn't have had the salary-cap space the following summer to sign George, which would have left them with a dearth of options at forward. (No, Caleb Martin and fossilized P.J. Tucker do not count.)

As much as we might have bemoaned the Jared McCain trade while he averaged nearly one point per minute in the Western Conference Semifinals, time will render the ultimate verdict on that deal, just like it has with Harden. As painful as the Harden breakup might have been at the time, the Sixers are far better off with the Maxey-Edgecombe duo leading the way moving forward.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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