James Harden is set to practice with Sixers on Tuesday
Nick Nurse: “He had some good conditioning days. He’s still in the ramp-up process, looking to have him back in practice on Tuesday. That’s about where we are with that.”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/KCOFRXDOGNDJTB3XRWLGBJ6NDQ.jpg)
James Harden is being reintegrated with the 76ers.
The point guard attended Sunday’s evening film study, walk-through, and sat on the bench with teammates during their home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Wells Fargo Center.
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid focused on team, not James Harden’s absence
“He had some good conditioning days,” coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s still in the ramp-up process, looking to have him back in practice on Tuesday. That’s about where we are with that.”
This comes after Harden didn’t accompany the Sixers on their season-opening, two-game road trip. He was told to stay behind to ramp up his conditioning at the team’s practice facility in Camden.
The Sixers said they thought that was the best since Harden had just returned after missing 10 days for “personal reasons.”
The point guard, who requested a trade, missed all four of the preseason games. He also participated in only one preseason scrimmage.
Nurse said there were no setbacks during his recent “ramp-up” sessions.
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s conditioning and buy-in will control Sixers’ success. Not what happens to James Harden.
“The signs are positive condition-wise and all those things,” he said. “We just need to get him in some live action. Hopefully, we can do that Tuesday.”
Harden picked up his $35.6 million player option for this season on June 29 with the expectation that the Sixers would trade him. He wanted to go to his hometown Los Angeles Clippers. However, talks with the Clippers halted on multiple occasions. That led to Harden becoming disappointed that he was moved.