Some follow-up thoughts on the Sixers’ options and the acrimony of the Harden-Morey divorce

Floating around the internet is an image that juxtaposes James Harden’s comments about Daryl Morey with a thumbnail of the thank you note that Morey penned to Rockets fans via a full-page newspaper advertisement when he left the team three years ago.

Within the two blocks of text are a couple of five-word phrases that, when excerpted and aligned side-by-side, create a narrative arc worthy of a Netflix option.

Morey, in 2020: James Harden changed my life.

Harden, in 2023: Daryl Morey is a liar.

Those are a stunning pair of bookends, even for a team that has seen the sorts of things that would leave a Blade Runner replicant reciting a prayer of gratitude. Two straight No. 1 overall picks who lost total confidence in their jump shot. A general manager who was fired because of a social media burner account. A front office that drafted a team employee’s son, then immediately traded him away, then watched him become the exact player the team needed. Yet even the most jaded of observers would have never considered the possibility that an acrimonious Harden-Morey divorce would show up on the Summer Sixers Bingo card.

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The surprise isn’t that Harden has removed the gloves in his attempt to get traded. The surprise — at least to those of us on the outside — is the sudden and personal nature of the attack. In hindsight, it seems obvious that the Sixers have been steeling themselves for this sort of thing all summer. The most telling signs were the steel-jawed, face-twitch demeanors from Morey, Josh Harris, and Nick Nurse when they handled questions about Harden at Nurse’s introductory press conference. After that came the curious images of Harden smiling and partying with his Sixers teammates even as reports suggested he was adamant about leaving. All of it left the impression that there was something significant that lingered unspoken.

Harden hasn’t offered any details on his charges. Was he referring to promises made or inferred when he agreed to a team-friendly deal last offseason? Was he referring to conversations held around the time he exercised his player option for 2023 and then immediately requested a trade? Or is all of this purely ends-based posturing, a future footnote in the handbook on the state of play in NBA power politics?

Right now, it looks like a Greek tragedy destined for small-screen docudrama. And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. From Shaq and Kobe to Scottie and MJ to Brady and Belichick, we’ve seen the movie plenty of times. At the foundation of every successful couple is a level of trust. The stronger that trust, the uglier it gets when one side feels it has been violated.

The big question in the wake of the Harden bomb is only two words long.

What now?

Last month, I floated something that I called the Kawhi Leonard scenario. That might be the silver lining in all of this. Back in 2018, Leonard had a falling out with the Spurs that escalated in a similar manner to the ongoing Harden drama. At the outset, Leonard wanted to be traded to the Clippers. But the Spurs held tight and Leonard eventually agreed to play the good soldier for a year in Toronto. That deal ended up being a win for the Spurs. They landed a first-round pick that they used to select Keldon Johnson, who averaged 22.0 points per game for them last season. They also got Jakob Poeltl and DeMar DeRozan, both of whom gave them three solid seasons and then were traded for a couple of additional first-round picks.

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

At the time, Leonard was younger and a more impactful two-way player than Harden is now. But he was also coming off an injury that limited him to nine games the previous season.

The irony of the Harden situation is that the biggest reason he hasn’t been traded is because he only wants to be traded to one place. Because that team (the Clippers) is bidding against itself, it has little incentive to make an offer that the Sixers can’t refuse.

It’s notable then that Harden’s most recent comments only have him ruling out one team. As long as Morey remains with the Sixers, that leaves 29 teams that Harden did not go on record as saying he would never play for.

If Harden is that desperate to leave the Sixers, it seems eminently possible that he could reach a point where he is willing to play somewhere other than Los Angeles. His free-agent market was limited by the realities of the salary cap. Now that teams know they only need to match salary in order to acquire him, it could shake loose some suitors. The big unknown is where Harden is willing to play, and whether that willingness expands as the season draws nearer.

The only thing I know for sure: This won’t be the last time I have to write about the drama.