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As the James Harden Trade demand hangs over the Philadelphia 76ers — including a report from Yahoo Sports that he’s expected to bring in training camp while seeking a move to the Los Angeles Clippers and a recent cryptic Instagram post — that could have dominoes over the future of two of his frontline teammates.
P.J. Tucker, Harden’s longtime teammate with the Rockets and Sixers, has appeared in trade talks between the 76ers and the Clippers, league sources tell HoopsHype. The Clippers covet Tucker’s ability to hold multiple positions and defend the league’s top opposing scorers. Tucker owes $11 million this coming year and has an $11.54 million player option for the 2024-25 season.
It should be noted that Harden previously took less money to give Philadelphia additional financial flexibility to land Tucker away from the Heat in free agency in July 2022. When Harden did, many in the league assumed the Sixers exec Daryl Morey – who was previously Harden’s biggest defender – would financially take care of his star player, which hasn’t happened. Ongoing negotiations have since led to a “fractured” relationship between Harden and Morey, according to Shams Charania.
Meanwhile, league teams — especially the New York Knicks — are watching the Harden saga unfold in Philadelphia and will affect the MVP’s happiness. Joel Embid. The Knicks have long admired Embiid and have significant draft capital to look forward to. Embiid’s former agent was Leon Rosewho now runs the New York front office.
If Embiid ever demands a trade, it should be noted that the Miami Heat have one of their good friends, Jimmy Butlerand a potentially intriguing trade chip in the All-Star Center Bam Adebayo to hang, in theory.