James Harden’s pay cut not helping Sixers could benefit Knicks
Months after he requested a trade to the Philadelphia Sixers, James Harden declined his $47.3 million player option for 2022-23 to sign a two-year, $68.6 million contract. He’s making $33 million this season and has a $35.6 million option for 2023-24. That’s an absurd amount of money to the average person, but to Harden, his salary for this season is $14 million less than what his player option offered.
Harden, who’s in his 14th season, took less money from the Sixers so that the team would have financial flexibility to round out other areas of the roster. In free agency, Philadelphia brought on P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. Earlier this week, the NBA announced that the Sixers would be without second-round picks in 2023 and 2024 because of free agency tampering.
Harden’s in search of his first championship, and the expectation is that he and Joel Embiid will be able to bring a title back to Philadelphia for the first time since 1983. The pay cut that Harden’s been praised for could ironically pay off, but to start 2022-23, the Sixers don’t look like a team that’s going to make it to the NBA Finals. It’s still very early, but if Harden ultimately ended up taking a pay cut for Philly to fail to reach its end goal, that move would go down as an all-time classic.
James Harden’s pay cut may not be enough to lead Sixers to NBA Finals
Tonight at Wells Fargo Center, the Knicks will have their first 2022-23 regular season matchup against the Sixers. However, James Harden won’t be on the court. Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that the guard would be out for a month with a right foot tendon strain.
With Harden out, Philadelphia’s been dealt a tough blow to start the season. Luckily, the Sixers still have Tyrese Maxey, who is averaging a second-best (behind Joel Embiid) 24.2 points per game. Harden’s averaging 22 points, and behind him is Tobias Harris with 13.4 points, so Philadelphia will be down offensive firepower in Harden’s absence.
After losing their first three games of the season, the Sixers now sit at 4-5 after losing to the Wizards on Wednesday. Over the next month, Philadelphia will have tough conference matchups against Atlanta (three times), Milwaukee, and Cleveland. The Sixers will also face some challenging Western Conference opponents in the Suns, Timberwolves, and Grizzlies. Depending on how they fare without Harden over the next few weeks, Philadelphia may still be below .500 when he returns.
It’s a long, long season, but for a team that has been labeled as a contender, the Sixers have been off to a poor start (even with Harden). It’s still early, but by the looks of it, Harden’s pay cut might not be enough to propel Philadelphia to the NBA Finals. Even with a healthy team, it’s hard to see the Sixers making it further than some of the best teams in the East in the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Celtics.
But before we start to look too far ahead, the Knicks have the opportunity to dig themselves out of the hole that they’re currently in with a win tonight at Wells Fargo Center. New York was flat-out embarrassed in its previous two losses, so it’d be nice to see the team come out with some fire against the Sixers. Hopefully, that doesn’t end up being wishful thinking.
