James Harden’s resume is an enviable one. He won the MVP just five years ago in 2018. He had an incredible run with the Rockets during the same year when they won 65 games. This was a franchise record and along with CP-3, Harden was destroying defenses left and right. The Warriors denied them once again as they had many times before. If not for the Warriors, the team could have had a championship. But zero rings mean zero rings. Hunting for a championship desperately, Harden now stares at a bleak future in the NBA. The market has abandoned him and his current team Philadelphia 76ers is also shooing him away.

The market is rather valuing Jrue Holiday over him. The 2021 champion is no doubt a terrific two-way player and a winner. However, The Beard’s resume is much stronger, especially as the offensive leader of the Rockets. It is not like Harden’s game has disappeared. He led the league in assists per game last season and averaged over 20 points a game. 

The Clippers were more willing for Jrue Holiday than James Harden

During the offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Milwaukee Bucks engaged in a big-time trade. Damian Lillard went to the Bucks and the Trail Blazers got Jrue Holiday during an extensive three-team deal. However, it was imminent that the rebuilding Trail Blazers would send Holiday elsewhere. Therefore, many suitors lined up. As a defensive leader, a strong playmaker, and a dependable scorer. He is in his prime and is still 33, and can likely have at least a couple of seasons more at this level. This is why the Clippers were interested in him. 

His defensive prowess alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard indeed makes for a deadly perimeter defensive trio. The three also are willing passers and make for an all-around offensive combination.

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He could also act as a great injury safety if Russell Westbrook got injured or underperformed. However, it was the Celtics who landed the incredible two-way Guard. The same Clippers were willing to part ways with young Guard Terence Mann and were also willing to give up some picks to get the now Celtics guard. However, they weren’t willing to do the same for Harden.

Initially, it was reported that the Clippers along with the Heat, they are the only contenders for the incredible guard. But it seems like the Clippers weren’t that committed. Rumors suggest that they were not willing to give up more than a couple of second-round picks. They were also not letting go of Mann to get the 2018 MVP. Is Harden not even worth a role player who was playing around just 10-15 minutes per game during a window during the last season?

What is James Harden’s worth?

While Holiday is a better defender, there is no doubt that offensively, The Beard has the edge. However, the value of the 2021 NBA champion lies in the intangibles he brings. He is a straight-talker who is all about getting the business done. He is a hooper with the most professional approach that one will ever see. Meanwhile, the three-time scoring champion has built a rather negative reputation. Many believe he isn’t suitable for the locker room and can upset the long-term agendas. That is why the market is dry for him.

It is not an issue with the skill set. Yeah, some point to his struggles during the series against the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Semis. In Game 7, he shot 3/11 and turned it over five times. It wasn’t like Embiid did well. He scored 15 on 5/18 shooting but as a veteran, people expected more from the disgruntled guard. Still, by the end of the Playoffs, he averaged two more points and shot about 38% from deep, compared to Holiday’s 28.6%. In fact, his Sixers made it a round farther than the Bucks, which suffered a shocking first-round exit as the team with the best record in the league.

But the game seven against the Celtics played a huge role in Harden’s current position with the 76ers. The team may have thought that he wasn’t the answer alongside Embiid. For the guard, the picture was much more different. He took a pay cut last season to help the management bring in PJ Tucker. As per the incredible offensive phenom, he took the pay cut so that his sacrifice shows his commitment to winning.

And to honor that commitment, he thought Philly should have offered him a max. And as the guard has repeatedly stated that they promised him a max. But they backed out during the offseason. This is why he opted in the final year of his rather not-so-absurd two-year $68 million deal. So that he can be trade-eligible and get as far away from the team that shunned him. His contract is a bargain in the current market where players of his caliber can easily earn over $45 million a year. Contrarily, he is going to earn about $35 million a year this season. But he was expecting that from next season, he would have been making around $50 million a year because of the nature of extensions in the current NBA.

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It isn’t the skill-set that has disallowed such an extension. It is the attitude. The reputation of being a bail-out guy has caught up to him. He forced his way out of the Rockets, then he asked the Nets to trade him quickly. And now the 76ers saga. Of all these, this has been the worst because of how much hatred there has been between him and the management.

The latest saga of the team not allowing him to board the plane must have splintered his pride. Here is a guy who can score 20+ points and 10+ assists a night, and now the team is saying we don’t need you anymore! This is also a result of the guard missing out on preseason and not attending crucial practices. He just wasn’t feeling it in the 76ers jersey. The Guard had planned his NBA life elsewhere.

This whole drama is indicative of the incredible playmaker’s fallen graph. He is not a common talent, he is a top-tier talent. He can straightaway turn around the fortunes of a team and help everyone around him get better. Hey, it was with him that Embiid won the MVP last season! Surely, the smooth pick-n-roll action with the genius Floor General helped him reach that level.

But there are no takers for such an athlete! Although there have been instances of superstars having a falling out with a franchise, in this instance, nobody else wants him. This has to be a unique circumstance. The three-time scoring champion, a former MVP, and multiple-time assists leader is undesirable. It isn’t about the skills, it is about the reputation at this point. During his August visit to China, he called Philly’s President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey a liar.

This is the same Morey who was running things with him in the Rockets. As per Stephen A. Smith, the former Rockets GM was willing to do anything to keep Harden happy. But it wasn’t enough to convince him to stay. However, doesn’t his resume indicate that he has earned a right to have such an ego?

Is James Harden the only guilty party in the fiasco?

However, it seems like this pride is now leading to a fall. But if we look from his perspective, he has said that he wanted to retire as a 76ers player. He thought so because he believed that he would be rewarded with a supermax contract. He didn’t get that. From his point of view, he feels betrayed.

From the 76ers’ perspective, he is a tantrum-thrower and a liability. But it is important to note that such drama has happened before with the franchise. It was with Ben Simmons just a couple of years ago. So, is this a coincidence that another high-level player is feeling abandoned?  However, the focal point in the conversation is how the market responded to the sharpshooter’s actions. They haven’t been ready to include him in their project, despite him being on an expiring deal. His deal can be soaked in by a lot of management, but no one wants to bet on him anymore.

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Have teams given up prematurely on the guard? It’s true Holiday has the intangibles that give him an edge, but collective memory is quick to fade. This is the same Harden who was an MVP-level player and carried the Rockets deep in the Playoffs. But it also seems like that teams believe that his days are numbered in the league. Therefore, one question remains; is Harden’s NBA career over? The author is not convinced that it’s over.