James Harden is picking up his $35.6 million player option with the Philadelphia 76ers with the intent of the 76ers finding a trade destination for 10-time all-star, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday.
Harden spent a season and a half with the 76ers after a midseason trade from the Brooklyn Nets. The 76ers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals in both seasons with Harden but couldn't progress beyond that point.
Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game during his time with the Sixers. He averaged 20.1 points per game during the 2022-23 playoffs with a 40-point performance against the Celtics.
Wojnarowski reported that the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers are two of the teams that are expected to be in trade talks for the 2018 NBA MVP.
The Clippers and Knicks are expected to be among the teams that'll engage with the Sixers on a potential James Harden trade, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/NQ5Y6xkvAx
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2023
The Sixers are as low as +1800 to win the 2023-24 NBA Finals at BetMGM. The highest odds are currently at BetRivers where the 76ers are +1200.
DraftKings currently has the 76ers at +1300 and FanDuel has them at +1700 to win the NBA Finals.
On the Eastern Conference side, the 76ers are +750 at BetMGM, +550 at DraftKings and +650 at FanDuel to take the Eastern Conference title.
Those are all down from their original marks earlier this month. For reference, the Sixers stood as low as +900 to win the title before today's news.
Harden is currently +11000 at FanDuel to win the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season MVP. His former teammate, Joel Embiid, is +700 to win back-to-back MVPs.
The 76ers are expected to be in pursuit of an All-Star caliber player to pair with Embiid. The drama of the NBA offseason appears to be just getting started.
