James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers are still engaged in a nasty feud with training camp a few weeks away.
Harden requested a trade from the team earlier in the summer, but when one didn’t materialize, the Sixers said they expected the 10-time All-Star guard to report to camp in the fall.
In a new longform piece for ESPN.com, Ramona Shelburne detailed some of what happened behind the scenes in the Harden trade talks.
In addition to the Los Angeles Clippers, Harden’s most preferred destination, Sixers president Daryl Morey reportedly spoke with the New York Knicks as well.
“For the next few weeks, Morey left Harden alone. He said he would make a good faith effort to trade Harden and had initial conversations, league sources said, with Harden’s preferred team, the Clippers, as well as the New York Knicks,” Shelburne wrote.
However, when neither team was willing to cough up what Morey was looking for in return–“a player or assets to keep the team in championship contention”–talks broke down.
On Aug. 14, Harden fired a major salvo in his ongoing battle with the Sixers, calling Morey “a liar” during a promotional event in China.
“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said. “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.”
Harden later told a KHOU 11 reporter that he believes his relationship with the Philadelphia franchise is beyond repair.