Getty Image / Tim Nwachukwu
Yesterday, James Harden made the surprising decision to opt in to the final year of his contract, but also request a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers.
The decision made the 6ers the 3rd team he has requested a trade from in the last 3 seasons.
Unfortunately, it looks it might be a bit more difficult for him to find a new team this time around.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, there is not a strong market for Harden right now.
.@WindhorstESPN has the details of James Harden exercising his $35.6M player option:
"There isn't a strong market for James Harden right now. The Sixers were positioning themselves to try to force him into a disadvantageous position, and so he elected to opt into his contract." pic.twitter.com/FoG2327GTW
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 30, 2023
Windhorst didn’t get into why the trade market is so weak for Harden right now, but there are some pretty clear reasons why teams might not be jumping at the chance to commit $35.6 million to James Harden.
The first is his age. Harden was still able to put together another strong season last year, but he’ll be 34 years old before the 2023-24 season begins. He has never been a particularly good defender and that’s not a facet of his game that’s going to get better with age.
Teams could also be wary about him potentially starting to decline.
Harden’s history of trade requests like this one might also have some teams feeling like it could just be a one year move if they trade for Harden.
It’s somewhat surprising that Harden doesn’t have a strong market in an offseason that is a bit thin on available stars, but there just aren’t a ton of teams looking to compete right now that need a point guard.
The only teams who are coming off of a playoff appearance that stand out are the two LA teams, the Heat, or the Timberwolves if they could move Mike Conley in the deal.
The Knicks were linked to Harden yesterday, but other reports have said they actually aren’t all that interested.
The Lakers have been repeatedly linked to Kyrie Irving and the Heat want Damian Lillard.
Maybe if they miss out on these players they’ll take a look at a deal for James Harden, but right now it looks like Harden might have a tough time finding his next team.