Woj bomb? More like Woj yawn.
Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN’s clearinghouse of information for NBA agents and brass, tweeted an hour before 76ers tipoff on Christmas Day, information that set the basketball world all atwitter: James Harden might maybe could kinda want to go back to Houston if he doesn’t remain past this season in Philadelphia.
This wasn’t news, exactly, since Harden, on a two-year deal with a player option, can be a free agent after the season — emphasis on free — and since, as a free agent, he is free to work wherever he pleases (but not for free). It was a titillating item, of course, since Harden’s best years happened in Houston, where he won the MVP in 2018, made the Western Conference finals in 2015 and 2018, and is the second-best player in franchise history, behind Hakeem Olajuwon.
The fact that Harden’s camp planted this news on the unofficial beginning of the NBA season — that wasn’t coincidental. Harden and the Sixers had won seven games in a row, so they probably won’t be this relevant again until late April, when they’re jockeying for a playoff seed. This provides maximum leverage.
Good for Woj. He’s got a job to do, and he did it, even if it wasn’t his best work, and it made Harden Grinch-y on Christmas morn.
Good for Harden, too. Despite a distraction (a distraction he engineered, but nonetheless), he dropped 29 points and 13 assists and, combined with Joel Embiid’s 35 points, led the Sixers to a win at New York.
And good for Keith Pompey of The Inquirer, the reporter who took the bullet when he put Harden on the spot and didn’t flinch when the Beard got grumpy.
Notably, Harden did not dispute the report when confronted with it both before and after the game.
“Why would you ask me about that on Christmas, man?” he growled at Pompey during the open locker room period before the game started, after Harden had worked himself into a pre-game lather. “You didn’t say Merry Christmas or nothing. You asked me about something that I ain’t even … I’m not answering. I didn’t see nothing.”
The answer, of course, is that he was asked on Christmas because that’s when the report landed, and he was at work, as was the reporter, and by the way, for future reference, blessed Kwanza, Happy New Year, and be my freaking Valentine, I guess.
If Harden played dumb and sweaty before the game, he played coy and colorful afterward:
“I’m here. We are playing very well. And I don’t know where the report came from. But I’m very excited to be here. We are playing well, and we’re continuing to get better.”
He wore a sherbet-colored jacket and a knitted ski mask hat, but even his technicolor presentation couldn’t distract from this fact:
He didn’t say “No.”
Which is, really, no big deal.
Reality check
There’s no evidence that the Harden/Embiid duo can be a lasting threat to the Bucks and Celtics, the best teams in the Eastern Conference both now and in the seasons to come. Embiid’s total package is peerless in NBA history, but he’s never been healthy for an entire season, and that includes this one. Tyrese Maxey has star potential, too.
But the most reliable Sixer in the 10-year history of The Process? That would be Tobias Harris, a third-option 30-year-old who often disappears in plain sight. If the Sixers don’t prove to be a contender, why on earth would Harden, who will be 34 next season, stay in Philly? So he’s not the oldest dude on the team? (P.J. Tucker’s 37.)
Harden realizes that if the Sixers don’t make a run to the NBA Finals this season, then they’re probably never going to. If they get close, then maybe he’d be smart to return, but that would imply that Maxey rounds out his game and Embiid stays healthy — and happy.
Happy? Yes. Embiid already is laying out his own exit strategy. He told Yahoo last month, “Sixers fans, they want to trade me. ... I do believe that. They want to trade me.”
That’s not the sort of comment that engenders job security for your coworkers.
With or without Embiid, if Harden thinks the Sixers have no real chance to win, he might as well be playing some place he wants to be. There doesn’t seem to be a place for him among the better teams — Boston, Milwaukee, Golden State, Denver or Phoenix — any time soon.
The Rockets are the worst team in the West right now, but they have good, young talent. Remember, in 2019, Jimmy Butler joined a Miami team that hadn’t won a playoff series in three years and immediately made it to the 2020 NBA Finals.
The Rockets also are projected to have the most salary cap space next season, according to Spotrac. If Harden’s going to be a loser, why not be a richer, more comfortable loser?
H-bomb
Assuming no contender wants to rearrange its roster to accommodate a fading superstar, it would be more newsworthy if Harden didn’t want to finish his career in Houston as opposed to a marginal ballclub with marginal options. Anyone who believes that Harden should spend his dotage in a pseudo-city like Indianapolis or Sacramento has never been to Indianapolis or Sacramento.
It only makes sense that Harden should want to finish his career in Houston.
He has a home there. He has a business there. There’s no state tax and no jock tax. He goes back to Houston all the time, even during the season, because several family members have moved there. He is certain to live there when he retires. He had his best days there as a player.
He’s probably going to get a statue in Houston. He’s No. 2 in scoring and he’s the franchise leader in assists, three-pointers, and free-throws, not to mention facial hair, and bizarre outfits.
None of those records will be broken in his lifetime.
Of course, when asked about returning to Houston, Harden also didn’t say, “Yes.”
He might be very happy here.
He’s gelling with Joel. Finally healthy and available, and Doc Rivers has figured out a way for Harden to be productive. Maxey can take the pressure off Harden, both as a wingman and as a backup point guard.
Here’s the most likely outcome:
Harden and Embiid play well, get the No. 3 seed, beat the Bucks in the Eastern Conference semis but lose to the Celtics in the conference finals, rekindling a semi-dormant rivalry. Harden, rejuvenated by the run and enticed by the shot at a title, runs it back in Philly next season ...
Where, on Christmas morning, with the team at 10-24, with Embiid injured, and with Doc fired, Woj tweets that Harden is demanding to be traded.
To Houston.
