James Harden’s contract has been a hot topic since the Philadelphia 76ers were bounced from the NBA playoffs. Heading into the season, Harden felt as though he didn’t get enough credit for renegotiating his deal in order to free up cap space for the team to sign another player.
Currently, Harden is facing a player option on his contract for next season, with $35,640,000 on the line as part of a two-year deal worth $68,640,000. Based on the terms of his contract, Harden will have until June 29 to decide if he will opt-in or out.
In addition, his contract gave him the right to veto a potential trade during the 2022-23 season.
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James Harden’s contract and the impact it will have on his free agency decision
Currently, it seems as though Harden is weighing out two different options. On one hand, he can potentially opt-in to his deal and return to the 76ers. With $35.6 million on the line, Harden would still make quite a bit of money.
On the other hand, he could opt-out, paving the way for him to potentially return to the Houston Rockets. Despite that, it sounds as though Harden was a driving force in the firing of coach Doc Rivers.
Although Sixers president Daryl Morey put the decision on himself, Yahoo Sports is reporting that there’s rumors among Rivers’ staff that Harden was a big part of the firing. Given that, many believe that the front office’s decision to get rid of Rivers could have been made in order to help persuade Harden to stay in Philadelphia.
With that being said, Harden’s comments early in the season have many wondering if the pay- cut he took heading into the season is simply too big of a hurdle for him in regards to resigning.
As he stated in an interview with The Athletic back in October:
“Nope, but guess what? I don’t care. There’s like a stereotype where people always want to talk. People don’t really know me, so they feel like they can just say anything. One thing I won’t do is give them any attention. I won’t say anything, media-wise, publicly. I don’t care, because I’m comfortable, and I’m confident in the things I do on and off the court.”
With just over a month until he has to make his decision, only time will tell how things play out for Harden and Philadelphia