James Harden forcing his way off Sixers has paid off big time

It was an ugly departure from Philadelphia for Harden, who called Sixers team president Daryl Morey a "liar" for reneging on a promise of a maximum contract extension and later compared his relationship with Morey to a doomed "marriage."

Harden had declined a $47M player option for the 2022-23 season and signed a cheaper deal to give the 76ers more flexibility to sign free agents. But many, including Harden, assumed that Philly would then give him a max deal in exchange for his sacrifice. Instead, Harden opted into his 2023-24 contract, and the 76ers traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package centered around expiring contracts and two first-round picks.

Now, Harden has made up a lot of the money he sacrificed three seasons ago. Former ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski posited in 2023 that Harden could have signed for two or three seasons at $40M per year had he not demanded a trade. Instead, he made $33.6M last year and guaranteed himself $81.5M for the next two seasons, just over $38M per year.

He's also been in a far better situation. Since Harden departed, the 76ers have endured multiple injuries to superstar Joel Embiid. They lost in the first round in 202  and missed the playoffs entirely during a nightmare 24-win campaign last year. Philadelphia did give a maximum extension to the Clippers' Paul George instead, which is looking like one of the NBA's worst contracts after the injury-prone 35-year-old missed half of Philadelphia's games in 2024-25.

Meanwhile the Clippers won 51 games in 2023-24 and 50 last season without George, though they lost in the first round. The team plays in the brand-new Intuit Dome in front of raucous fans with some of the nicest player facilities in the league. Harden lives in his hometown and made the 10th All-NBA team of his career last season.

It may have gone down in an ugly way, but forcing his way out of Philly was a tremendous decision for Harden. And that's no lie.