James Harden signs again with the sixes on a two-year, $68.6 million deal that includes a second-year player option, sources say ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski reports (via twitter) that Harden will earn $33 million in 2022/23 and the player option for 23/24 is worth $35.6 million. The former league MVP has an opportunity to go free again next summer and potentially negotiate another deal.
It was considered inevitable that Harden would re-sign with Philadelphia, it was just a matter of when, not if. Agreeing to a one-plus-one contract structure also gives him veto power on any trade during the ’22/23 league year.
According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), with Harden on board at $33 million, the Sixers are about $3.4 million below the ’22-23 tax skirt. The Sixers suffered a hard cap upon signing PJ Tucker up to full mid-level exception and Daniel house on the semi-annual exemption so that they cannot exceed the $156,983,000 tax skirt at any time during the league year.
Both players were signed with the flexibility Harden gave Philadelphia when he agreed to a pay cut – previously turning down his $47.4 million player option to sign a new contract. Harden recently explained the reasons for his decision to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“I’ve had conversations with (president of basketball operations) Daryl (Morey), explaining how we could get better and what the market value was for certain players. I’ve told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we have to sign and give me what’s left,” Harden said. “I want to win so badly. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this stage. I am willing to take less to enable us to achieve this.”
Harden, who turns 33 next month, had a poor season by his high standards, appearing in 65 regular-season games (37.2 MPG) with averages of 22.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 10.3 APG and 1.3 SPG on .410/.333/.877 on shooting. Those averages dropped to 18.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 8.6 APG on .405/.368/.893 shooting in 12 postseason games (39.9 MPG) with the Sixers last season.
He was reportedly hampered for most of the season by a hamstring injury, the same problem that plagued him in the playoffs with Brooklyn last year. Harden famously demanded a trade from the Nets before the February deadline in a deal that was broadcast Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and other assets to Brooklyn.
When Harden officially signs his new contract, Philadelphia will have 12 players on the 15-man roster signed to guaranteed contracts, our roster tally shows. He was ranked #3 on our list of the top 50 free agents this summer.