It’s been like that all year.
I hate it. I assume they are afraid they will find a wide open shot too early, miss it and be made fun of. Otherwise I can’t explain why they all wait.
I don’t know what you do with Harden if you’re Philly (or according to reports, Houston). Maxing him seems absurd. But he was the best player on the floor twice in the past four games, and I think he can do it twice more (or he manages one more and Joel Embiid gets another and the Celtics are going fishing).
Jaylen helping off of Harden in the near corner was horrific. I’m a big Jaylen fan but man does he make some clunker decisions. Series reminds me of the Bucks-Celtics last year - I felt like the Celtics were the better team, but any of the close games, the other teams take because they just don’t screw up down the stretch.
A bunch of teams would max him. That’s his market.
He didn’t get one last summer, and now he’s a year older.
Well maybe not his vet all-pro mvp mega max in terms of years, but something like $40mm AAV is what a team like Philly or Mil or Clips or any other number of contender would and should pay. Best player on the floor by far in two playoff games against massive title favs. Only 34 with a skill game that ages well.
Harden took less so that the Sixers could sign PJ Tucker and Danuel House.
That’s the story but that doesn’t counter what I’m stating - no team wanted to max James Harden last summer.
$40MM isn’t a max for Harden, it’ll be like $200MM over 4 years.
Maybe it’ll happen - like I said he was the best player on the floor twice in the past four games.
I mean $40m/year
Harden wants to go to Houston. 
He declined a $47 million option so he could sign for two-years at $68 million. Maybe no team would max him, but he clearly gave up money. He wanted to be in Philly and it seems unlikely a team had a chance to outbid the Sixers.
Exactly! Harden turned down a 1 year $47 million option, and took $20 million more guaranteed to offset the risk. He didn’t turn down a max contract - which Philadelphia, and every other team, could have offered him. We know this because in all the stories about him turning down money, no one claims he turned down a max…
Because he wouldn’t turn down a max.
Yeah, that would be 20% under his max.
No one claims that no other team wanted to pay him more if he was willing to change teams.
I think we’re talking in circles and probably agree with each other. Someone may have wanted to pay him more, but no one would have paid him the max.
Turning down 1 year $47mm for 2 years $69mm is one thing. Turning down a 4 or 5 year Supermax for 2 years $69 is completely another. We know this didn’t happen because if it had Harden’s PR team would be crowing about it. All the stories are about him taking $14mm less in the first year, not about him turning down a Supermax.
I think we all agree - Harden took less than he could have but there’s no way any team offered him a max last summer.
There may have been teams that would have offered Harden the max if they had the cap space. The main constraint was a lack of teams having enough cap space, not a lack of will. I decline to be certain that no team would have tried to clear space to offer him a max contract or close to it if he had hit the free agency market.
If Harden really wanted to leave Philly, I think that Dallas would have been very willing to offer whatever they could for Harden to opt in and be traded with an understanding that they would extend him for the max when he was eligible, but the Mavs had garbage assets so I don’t think the Sixers do that deal.
Man - that argument just does not fly. Teams can almost always create the cap space.
OK, how could the Mavs have created cap space to sign Harden last summer? Teams already over the cap have a hard time creating space for a max free agent.