More offseason drama: James Harden joins the list of unhappy Sixers through the years

The 76ers seemingly can’t get through a summer without in-house histrionics.

As if they didn’t have enough worries this offseason with James Harden’s desire to be traded, the Sixers had to hear the 10-time All-Star say Monday that the team’s president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, “is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”

And it didn’t end there. Early Tuesday morning, Sixers forward P.J. Tucker expressed support for Harden via his Instagram story: “I’m not acrobatic, I’m not flippin’ on my bros,” Tucker wrote about his close friend.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ James Harden: ‘Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of’

And according to ESPN, Harden’s comments are just the beginning of what he’s going to do to make life very uncomfortable for the Sixers going into training camp.

The comments came after the Sixers informed Harden’s agent over the weekend that they weren’t able to find a suitable trade for him. The point guard informed the team in June of his desire to be traded to his hometown Los Angeles Clippers.

Publicly, the Sixers do not appear concerned about Harden’s comments, saying they still expect him to show up for training camp in October. But this type of drama could have a negative effect on this season and beyond.

This is nothing new when it comes to Sixers land.

It’s likely that no franchise in major sports history has been more dysfunctional over the last decade than the Sixers. Offseason drama and/or questionable decisions have become par for the course. It started with the Andrew Bynum trade/disaster in 2012, which was the preamble to The Process in 2013. It’s also a major contributing reason as to why he team hasn’t been able to get over the second-round postseason hump. Constant change and turmoil does not equal consistent improvement.

Everyone compares this summer’s Harden drama to the Ben Simmons situation from two summers ago. And with just cause.

Back then, Simmons demanded a trade soon after the Sixers were eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in, you guessed it, the second round, and said he wasn’t coming to training camp. He made good on his word through almost all of the preseason before ending his 14-day holdout on Oct. 11, 2021, when he showed up for a COVID-19 test and entered the league’s health and safety protocols.

But this was a prolonged standoff, which became circus-like as Simmons never played for the team again before being dealt to the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 10, 2022, ironically for Harden.

More drama for the franchise: It’s hard to forget when Bryan Colangelo was forced to resign as Sixers president of basketball operations and general manager on June 7, 2018, ending a stunning nine-day saga that began when a website report tied him to damaging and anonymous Twitter accounts.

» READ MORE: James Harden was dumb to put the Sixers in a corner. His new diss video is a dumber way of doubling down.

The Ringer published a report that linked Colangelo to five anonymous “burner” Twitter accounts that shared sensitive team information and criticized coach Brett Brown as well as Sixers players — including Joel Embiid.

However, in his resignation statement, Colangelo shifted all of the blame to his wife, Barbara Bottini. He said he never “purposefully” or “directly” shared sensitive, private, team-related information with her.

Colangelo’s tenure will be remembered for Twittergate and his trading up two spots to select Markelle Fultz first overall in the 2017 draft. Fultz, who experienced shooting woes, played only 33 games with the Sixers before being traded to the Orlando Magic on Feb. 7, 2019. Fultz was taken over Jayson Tatum.

But Colangelo’s tenure was also marred by players voicing their displeasure with their situations.

On Sept. 25, 2016, on the eve of the team’s media day for the 2016-17 season, Nerlens Noel told The Inquirer that he wanted clarity about his future. He spoke of his love for Philly and his Sixers teammates. But after three years of watching his team tank, after years of wondering how he fit in, Noel said he needed his situation to change.

At the time, the Sixers had what they thought were three starting caliber centers in Embiid, Noel, and Jahlil Okafor.

“I think it’s just silly ... this situation that we are in now with three starting centers,” Noel said. “With the departure of [former general manager and president] Sam Hinkie, I would have figured that management would be able to get something done this summer.”

» READ MORE: If James Harden is traded, how will Sixers guard’s tenure in Philly be remembered?

Noel stressed that he wasn’t speaking negatively about Embiid and Okafor. Nor was he speaking for them.

“Don’t get me wrong. We all get along great on the court and off the court,” Noel said. “But at the end of the day, it’s like having three starting quarterbacks. It doesn’t make any sense.”

According to sources, the 6-foot-11, 228-pounder’s comments came after his name came up in trade talks with the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, and Houston Rockets. Another source said the Sixers were also in discussions with the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs.

Colangelo later denied that the team had been shopping Embiid and Okafor. He said teams reached out to the Sixers about them.

“I know I was shopped,” Noel said.

Not only did he speak out about the logjam at center, Noel missed the first 23 games after knee surgery while he elected to rehabilitate his knee off-site. He was also critical of playing just eight minutes in one game and was briefly taken out of the rotation.

So, in a somewhat expected move, the Sixers parted ways with Noel on Feb. 23, 2017. He was shipped to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut, and two second-round picks. Bogut never played for the Sixers, opting for the buyout market instead.

In a surprise move, the Sixers did not trade Okafor that day after being involved in trade discussions up until the 3 p.m. deadline.

Seeing how Nerlens’ exit strategy was a success, Okafor wanted a speedy divorce from the team at the start of the 2017-18 season.

He told Colangelo on Oct. 31, 2017, that he wanted to be bought out of his contract. That came after the Sixers declined to pick up Okafor’s contract for the 2018-19 season.

» READ MORE: New drawings of proposed Sixers arena include an apartment tower

The Sixers, however, were unwilling to let him just walk out the door without getting anything in return.

“I tried to do everything the right way,” said Okafor, who appeared in just two Sixers games during the 2017-18 season. “I tried to be professional; I will continue to be professional. But at some point, I have to defend myself, and this is my career. I’m not sure if [Colangelo] cares about that. I think that’s evident at this point.”

On Dec. 7, 2017, the Sixers traded him, Nik Stauskas, and a 2019 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Trevor Booker.

The Sixers’ offseasons were also marred by questionable trades, highlighted by the four-team deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat on July 6, 2019. The Sixers also let JJ Redick walk while signing free agent Al Horford away from the Celtics and re-signing Tobias Harris to a near-max deal.

So poor decisions, embarrassing movements, and disgruntled players wanting out has been the Sixers’ offseason norm for the last decade.

The only thing different is that Harden, the future Hall of Famer who was supposed to make things right, now wants out.

Most importantly, one has to wonder if Embiid will remain committed to what is turning out to be a multi-ring circus.

On Tuesday, the reigning MVP removed “Processing” and the location “Philadelphia, PA” from his Twitter bio.

This comes after Embiid’s comments to Maverick Carter during last month’s UNINTERRUPTED Film Festival in Los Angeles caught people’s attention.

“I just want to win a championship, whatever it takes,” Embiid said. “I don’t know where that’s going to be. Whether it’s Philly or anywhere else, I just want to have a chance to accomplish that.”

The Sixers can ill afford for him to be the next player to ask out.

With the team appearing to be planning on loading up on cap space for next summer’s free agent market, you have to wonder what drama is in store for this time next year and if future free agents are paying attention to the franchise’s annual disorder.