Daryl Morey Has Set The Price For James Harden And He Won't Make A Move Unless He Gets It

Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.

We interrupt our normally scheduled programming of non updates regarding Damian Lillard's trade request to bring you some actual updates about the trade request of James Harden. Daryl Morey spoke for the first time since Harden demanded out of Philly, so let's have a look at what he said.

The most important piece of course is the asking price

Now this could go one of two ways. Either Daryl is going to get his price and Harden will be a Clipper, or this is going to snowball into a complete shitshow because we all know what Harden does the second he doesn't get what he wants. While others may clown Morey for a stance like this and suggest there's no way he gets anything of value for an aging player on an expiring deal, I'm actually going to go the other way.

I just think back to what we all said about Ben Simmons and his trade demand. Morey held out and waited, ultimately getting his guy. Granted in hindsight maybe he should have just taken the Haliburton/Hield offer from the Kings, but in terms of flipping Simmons for a "star", nobody thought he could do it and he brought in Harden. That's where I differ from the Blazers situation. We know Morey has the balls to hold out until he gets what he wants, even if it means the player sits out. He doesn't give a shit. I would have way more faith in Morey when it comes to flipping Harden than I would Cronin when it comes to flipping Dame. 

The question is, given that Harden is pulling a Dame and only wants to force his way to one team, that certainly makes this a little more difficult. You can understand why another team might be reluctant to give up anything of value for a player like an unhappy Harden who can walk in free agency for nothing next summer. Unless he expands his list, this is most likely going to have to be another complicated multi-team trade, which certainly takes time. 

What type of player might that be? Sounds like Daryl is looking for a type

Which players fit that description that are close to Harden's money? The Clippers have already said Paul George is off limits (we'll see about that if they choose to not extend him), and Harden makes $35M a year. In terms of "elite" wings, you're market is pretty limited. In terms of guys who make similar money who can play on and off ball as a wing who could be on the market, there's really only one guy that fits that mold

Zach LaVine ($40M)

I doubt Morey is looking to flip Harden for a 33 year old Gordon Hayward ($31M) or a 34 year old DeRozan ($28M). I also doubt the Warriors would be looking to get off a player like Wiggins ($24M) or the Pelicans with Brandon Ingram ($33M) for a player like Harden either. When it comes to LaVine, he still has 3+1 left on his current deal, so maybe that's something to keep an eye on.

Morey also went on to talk about all the cap space that the Sixers have

but a quick look at the UFA class of next summer isn't exactly great

keep in mind, Jaylen Brown is about to (hopefully) sign his supermax extension, so that removes him from this list. So essentially, Daryl is maybe punting on this season so he can what, pay Pascal Siakam a max or something? Maybe bring in an aging Klay Thompson? It's not like this is a stacked free agent class so what good does the $66M+ in cap space do?

Of the two stars that have demanded a trade this summer, I still think Dame is the one that gets moved first. I know the Blazers are trying to posture that they're in no rush given Dame's 4 guaranteed years on his deal, but they'll cave. Daryl Morey on the other hand is not going to cave because he's been through this before. He has to nail this trade because at the end of the day, the clock is ticking on Embiid. With the Blazers, they're rebuilding so it's whatever. The Sixers are in a win now window with their franchise player, and they're running out of avenues to get them over the hump and at least make an ECF.