This Thursday, less than a month after declining his player option, James Harden has officially extended to Philly for two more seasons at a salary well below what he could/should have received. This sacrifice allows the Sixers to gain in competitiveness by committing one or two players on the financial margin left by the bearded man. High class.
It’s been in the small papers for a while: selon Chris Haynes de Yahoo Sports, James Harden signed with the Sixers for $68 million over two years. This new contract is the subject of a player option in his second year. A way for the bearded man to renegotiate a new deal next summer, or more simply to secure a way out in the event of a collective sinking, which the Pennsylvania franchise can no longer really afford. Yes, the team has grown even stronger thanks to the “financial sacrifice” of its ten-time All-Star: on June 29, James Harden declined a player option at… $47 million for the 2022-23 season. By signing this new lease, he makes a concession of just under $15 million per season. We are not yet on a remuneration of cobra pit cleaner huh, but his dedication allowed the Sixers to hire PJ Tucker and Danuel House without screwing up the cap space of the franchise. A good compromise, therefore, between Daryl Morey and the future 32-year-old Hall of Famer, whose fingers are still very/too bare.
Free agent James Harden has agreed on a two-year, $68.6M deal, including a player option, to return to the 76ers, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2022
This season, in 21 games played with the Sixers – since he arrived from Brooklyn only in February – James Harden has rendered the minimum service: 21 points at 40% shooting including 33% from parking, 7.1 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 1.2 interceptions. The percentages are to be perfected, but overall, we can hope that it performs crescendo within a team whose temperature he correctly took. In addition, the arrivals of his former colleagues from Houston will pad his buttocks cushion. For those who watched several Philly games in the second half of the season, it was not difficult for opposing defenses to limit the impact of James Harden. The guy poses his union double-double, but swings filthy percentages and loses balls in crucial moments. He has lacked a bit of camaraderie on the outside lines so far. We love Tyrese Maxey, author of a top sophomore season, but his 21 years do not allow him to collaborate effectively with the bearded man in high-stakes Playoff matches. You don’t need stats, but experience, years of service, a taste for war and bitumen: all that PJ Tucker can bring to his new team.
Continuation of a promising collaboration, which however, will not necessarily last five years. The Process is moving forward but comes at a pivotal moment, where the opportunity that this 2022-23 season represents for the Sixers must be converted. Otherwise ? Implosion.