Former Orlando Magic star JJ Redick gave his take on the James Harden situation during a recent episode of his Old Man and the Three podcast. Harden has long been pushing for a trade and is currently in the middle of a feud with President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey. While it has not materialized yet, he is largely expected to not suit up again for the Philadelphia 76ers.
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According to JJ Redick’s intel, he could not think of a 76ers team that featured ‘The Beard’ going into this 2023-24 season. Redick talked about the franchise’s odds dropping from +1100 to +1800 for the NBA title, and suggested that it was due to the speculation surrounding a Harden trade. While Harden seems to be training with full focus, the sharpshooting podcaster is confident that he will not be playing for the franchise again.
JJ Redick is confident James Harden will not play for the 76ers again
According to ESPN, Harden only recently claimed that his relationship with Morey was past the stage of repair. While he claimed he was focused on playing basketball, Redick believes that will not be for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Reddick was asked about the 76ers’ chances amidst the backdrop of some important Eastern Conference trades. He claimed that based on his intel, Harden would not play for the 76ers in a regular season game again:
“You have to assume at this point, given the intel that we have that James Harden will eventually be moved. And if he is not moved by opening night, I am not sure that James Harden is going to play in an NBA regular season game for the Philadelphia 76ers. So when you say as currently constructed, I am going on the notion that it’s without James Harden. I can’t look at it any other way, and it’s interesting, when the drafting sports book odds open, they open at +1100 to be NBA champions, they are now +1800. They are obviously going to get a return back for James Harden whenever they make that trade.”
Talking about the 76ers’ title odds, he suggested that the drop was due to the impending Harden trade. Reddick claimed that he could not think of the 76ers’ in the presence of Harden, and went on to talk about how the likes of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks had both improved.
The 76ers seem to be in a delicate position with respect to their title chances. With a fully-fit Harden, they theoretically have the talent alongside Joel Embiid to lead deep into the Playoffs. Without him, they will be in danger of falling behind the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.
Tyrese Maxey recently vouched for James Harden
While Harden might have no plans to play for the 76ers again, he has shown up to the training camp determined to get back to his A-game. Tyrese Maxey recently claimed that he was surprised to see Harden putting in effort during training.
Maxey revealed that Harden had come in advising youngsters, and looked close to his best in training. The point guard claimed that he initially expected awkwardness considering the speculation surrounding his future. However, that was far from the case.
While that may be a result of his obvious desire to leave, Harden is fully focused on returning to his best. Another teammate in the form Patrick Beverley, also recently said that the 3-time scoring champion had been phenomenal during the 76ers’ training camp.
