stashing assets for the 2023 nba offseason

https://x.com/theathletic/status/1690529082121822208?s=46&t=delhXlmZBYazm252j4iaFA

what a mess

he's a man with a plan!

is james even sure that the clippers want to trade for him?

wow lol

James Harden: “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” pic.twitter.com/AmHJ0WwbF2

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2023

beat me to it. that’s crazy

This is obviously not good for the Sixers, but I didn't have much/any hope for their chances this season with or without him. I thought it was pretty obvious it was time to move on, eat it for this year, then reload next year.

Does Harden think Morey tricked him into opting in?

Did Morey convince Harden to opt in because he thought he thought he could convince Harden to stay or because he overestimated the market for a Harden trade?

I would just let him sit out the preseason/season until something can be worked out, something being some sort of decent bench piece, not looking for much at this point.

seems like morey prob promised harden a big extension this year and then did not do it

this wild rule about how if a player in the last year of his contract refuses to play then he cant play again until his team lets him is relevant to this situation

Here’s the CBA language for Withholding Services:

Withholding services: A player who withholds playing services called for by a Player Contract for more than thirty (30) days after the start of the last Season covered by his Player Contract shall be deemed not to have… https://t.co/EEJkn73LZG

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 14, 2023

seems like morey prob promised harden a big extension this year and then did not do it

I actually forgot Harden "took less money" last year to help the Sixers cap. If he did that based on a promise from Morey, I could understand him being pissed. On the other hand, good on Morey for not offering Harden a long term max extension because that would be the only thing worse than the current situation.

https://i.imgur.com/M2bRbil.png

+picks harden to a third team for something idk

or

https://i.imgur.com/otaWlnj.png

saying "Daryl Morey is a liar" in China is akin to saying "Monarch football rules" at the Mater Dei High School pep assembly

forgot about daryls history with china thats pretty funny

I'm too irrationally attached to Maxey, even for Lillard. Everything points to Maxey being able to increase his offensive numbers by giving him the ball and letting him shoot more.

I think bailing on Embiid is an option (not this year), but I would like to see what the team looks like next year after they get rid of Harden, resign Maxey and have a much better cap situation with Harris' deal off the books.

dont think philly has the pieces to get lillard anyway tbf they only have one first they can trade, unless portland is just in love with maxey i guess

wow so daryl really fucked this one up

lowe had talked about that CBA provision on a pod a few weeks ago re: lillard, it’s apparently been in the CBA for a while which was news to me. it sounds like the sort of thing that isn’t realistic in practice because the player probably has a lot of tricks to pull

also teams prob dont want to be seen as blackballing a player

not giving harden a huge extension is ultimately the right move even if daryl is ruining a personal relationship in the process. but once you zoom out to capture the entirety of the saga — cashing in simmons for harden, having the worst case harden scenarios play out in the playoffs, and then being boxed in by his opt in bcuz you mismanaged the relationship so badly — it’s really not good

yep def bad imho

harden publicly threatening to tell on daryl for their backroom deal is pretty interesting btw

having the entirely predictable worst case harden scenarios play out in the playoffs

having harden scenarios

the thing w/ that CBA rule is we know harden will just show up and attempt to actively hurt his team on the court so i'm not sure that really matters. i'm having a hard time picturing a positive outcome here bcuz harden is going to use his history of sabotage as leverage for why the sixers should trade him anyway but that's also a major factor as to why he has little to no trade value to begin with. a scenario where harden sucks it up and plays his ass off for one year just doesn't seem realistic but then again, why would the sixers even want that? the guy is a walking contention killer. and yet he's killing their contention hopes presently regardless. how does this work out for the sixers? i'm at a loss

harden publicly threatening to tell on daryl for their backroom deal is pretty interesting btw

― lag∞n, Monday, August 14, 2023 10:58 AM (ten minutes ago)

saw someone on twitter maybe sam vecenie make the point that if harden really does go down this path -- publicly alleging that morey reneged on a wink-wink extension -- you'd have to imagine the union & league would want/need to get involved

yeah def

philly shd prob just cut bait on harden and get whatever they can for him, except then what does embiid think about the future of the team, are they looking at another trade demand, theyre in a tight spot

although! trading embiid now could actually turn out to be the best thing for them considering his age an injury history, on the other hand he could easily put up another five years of mvp level play

philly shd prob just cut bait on harden and get whatever they can for him, except then what does embiid think about the future of the team, are they looking at another trade demand, theyre in a tight spot

― lag∞n, Monday, August 14, 2023 11:15 AM (five minutes ago)

i feel like even if morey was willing to swallow the ultimate public humiliation of trading harden for whatever he can get... i do wonder what that would even amount to. the best offer that they could get for this version of harden on this contract is probably like... a halfway decent role player. what were people saying the clippers offer would be? morris and norm powell, just cuz you gotta have two in there for the salaries?

yeah i dunno, feels like a blow it up situation to me

i dont think theyd do it without a embiid demand

imo it's kinda getting lost that the sixers decided to publicly announce that they're "ending trade talks" ... like the offers must have been really bad if they decided their best option was to go to war w/ a guy who has already demonstrated on two separate occasions that he will step on the court and sabotage your team if he has to. why wouldn't the sixers just say nothing & hope the market improves? we have to acknowledge that morey makes crazy trade requests as a matter of habit but the market for harden must be incredibly bleak

yeah i mean who would want this guy he sucks lol

Kudos to Harden for goosing the news during another offseason lull.

I don't think I've ever heard a player talk like that before, this is all pretty wild

Trade him for whatever is the move. They could also let him sit with a fake injury and see if the market improves at the deadline which it probably will.

We appear to be headed for quite a standoff, since league sources say that the Sixers remain determined to trade Harden only if they find a deal that keeps them in the title mix.

More to come via https://t.co/A6ycVmnZ8Y https://t.co/ubcQycEV2F

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 14, 2023

right so like... they're still open to trading him? or...??? this whole thing is such a mess lol

Trade him for whatever is the move. They could also let him sit with a fake injury and see if the market improves at the deadline which it probably will.

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Monday, August 14, 2023 11:37 AM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

his expiring deal could actually be valuable with teams needing to get under the famous second apron next year when all the real bad penalties kick in

while you’re all worried about that haynes is keeping us informed of the real news

Sports Business News: Former Turner Sports executive Tara August and Perry Rogers have partnered to launch “A Type, Inc.” to provide consulting services around the world of sports and entertainment. pic.twitter.com/7GtFaFLgey

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 14, 2023

love to provide consulting services around the world of sports and entertainment

i think harden potentially having more value at the deadline makes sense in theory, but in practice i don't see a scenario where this actually goes smoothly enough to play out that way. "go back to philly, play hard enough to re-establish your value & either get traded or sign somewhere else next year" is the def the most logical strategy for harden but he doesn't seem driven by logic at the moment

also the sixers not wanting to get worse in a harden trade -- and that part does make sense to me -- doesn't align w/ the idea of a team putting more value on the table for harden in-season than they are now. the only teams that would be trading for him at that point are ones w/ hopes for the playoffs so trading good players away to get harden would make no sense

feels like you can never rule the clippers out of doing something crazy especially if they have a good season and PG/kawhi seem like they were gonna be healthy for the playoffs. aside from that the only in-season path i could see is a team like chicago, new orleans or minnesota who hasn't had playoff success in years/ever being like "if all we do is win a first round series we'll be overjoyed so we'll take harden for 25 games + one playoff run and if he shits his pants in round 2 and then leaves it's still our best season in decades". but again those teams would have very little to nothing of present value to offer philly if they were trying to acquire harden to win playoff games so i don't see how that works

Source: Daryl Morey is unmoved by James’ comments. He is holding firm in his stance that he will not trade him unless it makes the Sixers a better team.

Meanwhile, I’m told James’ agent advised him against making that statement.

— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) August 14, 2023

he had one too many trill burgers

i think harden potentially having more value at the deadline makes sense in theory, but in practice i don't see a scenario where this actually goes smoothly enough to play out that way. "go back to philly, play hard enough to re-establish your value & either get traded or sign somewhere else next year" is the def the most logical strategy for harden but he doesn't seem driven by logic at the moment

Yeah, I agree Harden won't play nice and help Philly (and himself), but I think he will have more value/usefulness regardless at the deadline this year because he is expiring.

also the sixers not wanting to get worse in a harden trade -- and that part does make sense to me -- doesn't align w/ the idea of a team putting more value on the table for harden in-season than they are now. the only teams that would be trading for him at that point are ones w/ hopes for the playoffs so trading good players away to get harden would make no sense

I think Morey is going to have to get realistic about things between now and then. The only players of note on the roster for 2024-2025 are Embiid, PJ Tucker, Paul Reed, and presumably Maxey when he is resigned. Harden and Harris are expiring, so trade them this year to get ready for a radically different looking team in 2024-2025.

lol all the branding

James Harden just said this twice in China: Daryl Morley is a liar, I will never be a part of an organization that he is part of it. pic.twitter.com/0nVoaNcMYL

— MoreSteph (@XuanwongMilan) August 14, 2023

you know there's a certain young 3x All Star on the Nets you could probably swap Harden for

the nba is wild, man. this situation is jacked.

harden one-ups dame on the hard man front

he had one too many trill burgers

― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Monday, August 14, 2023 12:09 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

we've all gotten to hopped up on trill burgers and said some things we regret