One waiting game ended on Thursday afternoon with reports coming out that James Harden will exercise his player option in order to facilitate a sign-and-trade with the Sixers. Now, another one begins with the Sixers looking to find a trade partner and his replacement.
Philadelphia has been linked to Damian Lillard for a while and that’s not going to slow down now. Kyrie Irving was even mentioned as an option.
The Sixers are going to have to do their due diligence to get the best return for Harden that they can. That may mean taking a big risk rather than hoping role players can fill the gaps.
Eliot Shorr-Parks and Kyle Neubeck of the Audacy Original Podcast “Clap Your Hands” discussed the Sixers’ options with Harden this summer.
“The East could be even more winnable and not as good as it was last year. So I do believe the Nick Nurse, Joel, Harden, Maxey, Tobias could win the East next year,” Shorr-Parks said. “But the issue is then if you remove James Harden, you have to replace him with something legit. You just have to.”
The Sixers were one win away from the Eastern Conference Final last season. They could be right back in that same situation in a weaker conference next season.
“Losing James Harden is not a good thing for this team and replacing him is not going to be as easy as people think,” Shorr-Parks continued. “So all these Sixers fans out there that are like ‘Well, at least he’s off the roster. Go get role players. Blah blah blah.’ No! You have to go get a legit star, or at least try, and if you don’t you’re not as good.
“Or you’re depending on Maxey to take a massive step forward – and maybe that’s more likely without James Harden here. Maybe he has more responsibility as a facilitator and he thrives in that role and Nick Nurse does a great job and maybe that happens. But ultimately, they’re not as good without James Harden so for me, it’s frustrating to know that I look at this team and I don’t think they have a legitimate chance of winning the title now.”
Harden’s scoring and ability to take over a game – as he did in Game 1 in Boston – aren’t going to be easy to replace. The Sixers might have to take a high-risk, high-reward gamble for another star rather than hoping that role players can pick up the slack.
“This is why Daryl Morey is getting paid a lot of money to run this team. He has to figure this out,” Neubeck said. “Look, maybe – and I know you’re anti-Zion, this is just an example – but it might be a situation where you have to try and take a higher risk, higher reward gamble on somebody like that. Or as you’ve brought up, maybe you figure it out where you trade for LaVine. That’s the shot that you take. I don’t love Zach LaVine, there’s a reason he’s gettable compared to someone like a Dame or a Paul George or someone like that.”
The money would be the risk with someone like LaVine. The Chicago Bulls star has an ascending cap hit starting at $40 million next season and going all the way up to a nearly $49 million player option for 2026-27. But if he can be the second- or third-best player on a championship team, it may be worth the risk.
“If you want to go for a ‘star’ or somebody that fits the mold of a game-breaking-type player rather than say we’re taking three role players back at $12 million a piece, I think that’s the profile of player you’re going to see.”
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