Despite James Harden opting in to his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season, he doesn’t actually expect to play for the Philadelphia 76ers again.

After he went on to call out Sixers GM, Daryl Morey, for being a “liar”, NBA writer Mark Medina thinks the team should feel somewhat "relieved" that Harden’s accusations didn’t refer to them promising a “hefty pay rise”.

Philadelphia 76ers news – James Harden

Disgruntled all-star, James Harden, went on a verbal rampage at an Adidas media event in China accusing Philadelphia 76ers GM, Daryl Morey, of being a “liar” after trade talks between the Sixers and his preferred destination, the L.A. Clippers came to an end without a trade materializing. Via ESPN, he went on to state: “I will never be a part of an organization that he’s [Morey] a part of”.

As a result of his comments, the NBA fined the 10x All-Star over $100,000, and subsequently launched an inquiry over the circumstances which led to his public comments to see if he violated the league’s collective bargaining agreement, per ESPN.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, during the 2022 off-season, the 33-year-old declined his $47.4 million player option to re-sign to a two-year, $68.64 million contract, essentially taking a pay cut in the region of $14.3 million.

This was deemed to be one of the largest pay cuts in NBA history, but was done so that the Sixers had more cap flexibility in order to bring in the necessary pieces for their roster to help the team on their pursuit for an NBA championship, per Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti.

However, the Sixers failed to make even the Eastern Conference finals in their 2023 playoff run, losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semi-finals in seven games.

Now, the Sixers face the dilemma of whether to keep Harden on the roster, which they are well within their rights to do, or to find a suitor that is willing to give up a sizeable amount of value to trade for him.

Neither option is currently off the table and the final decision ultimately comes down to the Sixers' front office.

Should the Philadelphia 76ers feel relief over Harden’s comments?

Medina thinks that the Sixers should somewhat feel a sense of ‘relief’ that Harden failed to accuse them of promising a significant pay rise, believing that any resolution to this situation will be dependent on which party makes a move first.

Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said...

“I think in a way, the Sixers should feel relieved that James Harden didn't accuse them of promising a hefty pay rise. Again, the Sixers have been adamant over and over again that they never made such promises.

“So with this, I think that now it's about just seeing which party blinks first.

“Do the Sixers feel comfortable dealing with the awkwardness and they anticipate immaturity that we're going to see with James Harden entering training camp if he's still in the Sixers uniform? Or will James Harden capitulate because he will be subject to financial penalties under the CBA if he doesn't fulfil his contract. It's not an ideal situation.”

What penalties could James Harden be subject to?

If James Harden does choose to hold out and decide not to report to training camp as he has previously alluded to doing via The Athletic, he may be subject to a plethora of ramifications, both financially and for his future free-agency.

According to NBA insider Zach Lowe on his podcast The Lowe Post, if the 2018 NBA MVP award winner fails to report to Sixers training camp in September, then he could be viewed as violating the terms of his contract per the collective bargaining agreement laws, meaning he would be unable to become a free-agent in the future unless his previous team, in this case the 76ers, "expressly agrees otherwise".

Furthermore, should he choose to forgo joining up with the team in training camp, Harden will be subject to financial implications, including fines that equate to 1/96.1th of his base salary per game missed, around $389,082.97 per game, via CBS Sports.

Additionally, he would be fined incrementally for any practices he misses. For the first practice missed he would be fined $2,500, and if he were to miss a second he would be fined $5000, with a third missed practice costing The Beard $7500, and so on with any amount the CBA deems “reasonable under the circumstances”.

Whether James Harden chooses to hold out and face the consequences of his actions remains to be seen, but the Philadelphia 76ers should consider themselves relatively lucky that he hasn’t accused them of breaking a promise regarding his pay.

How the situation unfolds remains unclear, but the NBA will be watching with bated breath.