PHILADELPHIA — Romeo and Juliet. Antony and Cleopatra.
Daryl and James.
Love stories for the ages.
If you believe that James Harden was part of the problem the last two seasons, then we’ve got terrible news for you. If the Sixers have their way, then Harden, the longtime object of president Daryl Morey’s professional affections, is going to be the centerpiece of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Morey spent 13 years experimenting with basketball as the Rockets’ general manager. Over the past three years, he has reconfigured Philadelphia as Houston North, from importing former Rockets CEO Tad Brown to the Sixers, to signing then-37-year-old enforcer P.J. Tucker. Fifteen months ago, Harden — a ball-dominant defensive liability, a small forward in a point guard’s role — became the capstone of that project.
And they’re just getting started.
Harden can opt out of his current contract and become a free agent. The Sixers would love for him to opt in for $35.6 million, but a report says he’s not going to, and he’d be foolish to do so. That’s because at least one suitor — Morey — clearly is willing to throw a max contract at him. The Sixers could pay him the most: four years and $210 million.
If they offer and he agrees, they’ll be paying him more than $50 million a year for his 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th seasons. He’ll be 37 in his final season, and he’d be stealing money. Romeo and Juliet? More like Bonnie and Clyde.
Morey addressed the press Wednesday, the day after he fired coach Doc Rivers. He talked a lot about Doc, and who might replace him, and how Joel Embiid might get still better at basketball. But, most disturbingly, Morey stated unequivocally that regardless of Harden’s playoff inconsistency, The Beard is Priority No. 1.
“Scenario A would be to bring James back,” Morey said.
Morey did not qualify this by saying “As long as he opts in,” or with “As long as James is willing to sign for fewer years and less money than the maximum.” Morey made it sound like Harden can write his own ticket, and Morey will gladly pay for it.
We haven’t seen this type of devotion since Leo and Kate hooked up on the Titanic. Except in this version, Harden is both the muse and the iceberg.
Devotion
It’s really rather touching.
Morey is in love with the guy who shot 25.9% from the field, hit 9.1% of his 3-pointers, and scored 22 total points in the franchise’s two biggest games since 2001. How bad was it? In Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Harden hit just seven shots but committed 10 turnovers.
Morey is smitten with the guy who said, after shooting 4 for 16 and taking two shots in the second half of the Game 6 collapse in the Eastern Conference semifinal: “I’m not gonna look at my shooting percentage. I did see a lot of really good things offensively.” Also, Harden blamed the refs.
Morey is all-in on bringing back the point guard who couldn’t find Embiid, the 7-foot, 280-pound MVP, in the last four minutes of Game 6. Morey likes the guy who has more than 1,000 playoff field goals but couldn’t find the basket in four of the Sixers’ conference semifinal losses. Harden’s springtime disappearances are nothing new. In Harden’s first eight years as a full-time starter, he averaged 28.4 points in 85 playoff games. Since 2021, he’s averaged 19.6 points in 32 playoff games. Morey’s as obsessed with Harden as Scarlett was with Rhett, no matter how many times Harden plays like he doesn’t give a damn.
Morey’s fallen for a guy who never even made it to the NBA Finals when they were together in Houston. Joséphine had poor taste, but at least Napoleon won something.
Pretty, pretty good
I will admit, and maybe you should too, that James Harden was a better player than I thought he was. He’s a better passer. He’s a much better teammate; his locker-room rapport is smooth, if not commanding. With Rivers’ help, Harden turned into an actual point guard, after spending the past few years as a point guard affectation, when, really, he was just the guy playing pickup ball at the park, showing out for his buddies and the ladies.
Old dogs learn new tricks all the time; look at “Lady and the Tramp.” Perhaps Harden will develop a better pull-up game to defeat the defenses that stack the lane when he drives. Perhaps Harden will develop some moves with his back to the basket, the way Kobe and Michael Jordan did. Perhaps.
But most dogs who learn new tricks acknowledge and accept their limitations and devise new strategies to remain effective, if not becoming more effective. Kobe and Mike did it by the time they were 30. Harden’s 33 going on 50, and he has yet to do that.
More likely, the Sixers still will have a player who declines to play defense. A player who seems unable to deliver an entry pass to the post. A player whose off-court habits do not foster the sort of endurance required to play dominant basketball in May and June. You don’t fly to Vegas and smack your friend outside of nightclub during the week between the first and second rounds and expect to have your legs — which have played 1,153 NBA games — fresh for Games 6 and 7 of the second round of the playoffs.
Morey’s not stupid. He sees all this. But, as we know, love is blind.
And remember:
Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy.
