Examining what the CBA says about James Harden's plan to holdout

We may be entering unchartedwaters regarding the James Harden situation inPhiladelphia.

The 10-time All-Star spoke at anAdidas media event in China earlier today and had some choice wordsabout 76ers president Daryl Morey.

“Daryl Morey is a liar and Iwill 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 Iwill never be a part of an organization that he’s a part ofagain."

This comes in response toESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski'sreport on Saturday that the Sixers were taking Harden off the trademarket and expecting Harden to show up for trainingcamp.

James Harden: “Daryl Morey is a liar and Iwill never be part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let mesay that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be part ofan organization that he’s a part of again.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/r2Gv07wAH7

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 14, 2023

The root of Harden’s displeasurewith Morey and the front office comes from the team’s unwillingnessto offer him a long-term maximum-level contract extension,according to Wojnarowski.

The Sixers had preliminaryconversations with the Los Angeles Clippers, Harden’s desireddestination, but no deal came close to materializing. This waspartially due to the Clippers' unwillingness to part ways withTerance Mann as well as Morey's insistence in getting a star-levelreturn for a player of Harden’s caliber.

Despite being reportedly takenoff the trade market, Harden’s desire to play elsewhere has notchanged, and he still does not plan to report to training camp,according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick. Givenhis recent comments, one would certainly not expect Harden tochange his mind anytime soon.

Harden has already shown hisability to “stir the pot” when it comes to forcing his way to a newdestination. In 2020, Harden requested a trade from the HoustonRockets and when they didn't deal him prior to the start of theseason, he responded by showing up late and out-of-shape totraining camp and making disparaging comments toward his teammatesonce the season started. These actions ultimately led to theRockets dealing the star guard to Brooklyn, where he asked outagain just a year later.

However, Harden’s request out ofPhiladelphia differs for two main reasons: his contract andMorey.

In June, he unexpectedlyaccepted his $35.6 million player option for the 2023-24 seasonand, in turn, asked to be sent elsewhere. Under this contractagreement, Harden is set to become an unrestricted free agent nextsummer. If the star guard is adamant about not playing again forthe Sixers, he may face some challenges in holding out of trainingcamp.

As relayed by ESPN’s front office insider BobbyMarks, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement has specificguidelines for players withholding their services in the final yearof their contract.

“Withholding services: A player who withholdsplaying services called for by a Player Contract for more thanthirty (30) days after the start of the last season covered by hisPlayer Contract shall be deemed not to have ‘complet[ed] his PlayerContract by rendering the playing services called for thereunder,”Marks conveyed on Twitter.“Accordingly, such a player shall not be a Veteran Free Agent andshall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a Player Contract withany other professional basketball team unless and until the Teamfor which the player last played expressly agreedotherwise.”

In simpler terms, if Hardenchooses to hold out for more than 30 days into the regular season,he will no longer be able to hit free agency next summer because hewould not have completed the terms of his contract (unless theSixers let him). Not to mention, the star guard would incur asignificant amount of fines if he has a lengthy holdout. To myknowledge, this clause has never needed to be applied in NBAhistory to this point.

Harden may have no choice but toshow up for training camp due to these restrictions. But would theSixers even want him at camp if he is going to be a nuisance, muchlike he was in Houston back in 2020? Just two years ago,Philadelphia had to deal with the Ben Simmons situation, where hecreated a toxic atmosphere that led to the organization sending himhome until his trade request was met later thatseason.

However, the reason Simmons’trade request lasted all the way through the 2021-22 trade deadlineis because Morey insisted on a star-level return for the youngthree-time All-Star. The trade just so happened to reunite him withhis old colleague from his days in Houston: JamesHarden.

Morey and Harden’s relationshipdates back to when Houston acquired Harden from the Oklahoma CityThunder in the summer of 2012. The two were able to reach twoConference Finals during their run together and were presumed tohave a good working relationship. Morey even acquiesced to Harden’srequest to trade for his former OKC teammate Russell Westbrook, amove that did not prove to be successful.

When Harden was brought toPhiladelphia, he worked with Morey to sign a team-friendly contractduring the summer of 2022 to leave room for the team to signvaluable pieces like PJ Tucker and Danuel House. As part of thisdeal, it has been suggested that the team gave Harden a “wink-wink”deal on a new long-term contract that would’ve been extended thispast offseason (which might explain Harden's comment).

Given the lack of any talks on along-term deal, the relationship has since soured to the point ofHarden directly calling Morey a liar. But that shouldn’t stop Moreyand the Sixers from trying to bring Harden back into thefold.

The only solution for Philly ifthey wish to compete for a championship in 2023-24 is bringingHarden back. The trade market has made clear that a Harden returnpackage would not meet either of the Sixers' desired outcomes ofkeeping them in title contention or keeping cap flexibility fornext summer. If they let Harden hold out, triggering theWithholding Services Clause or even allowing him reach free agencynext summer, they would relinquish much of their cap flexibilitythat they hope to have next offseason.

We would be remiss if we didn’tmention the other domino in the City of Brotherly Love: JoelEmbiid. If the 76ers pull the trigger on a Harden deal, they mayhave to waste a prime year for Embiid, which will only stretch hispatience to win a title in Philadelphia thinner. Remember, earlierthis offseason, Embiid said: "I just want to win achampionship, whatever it takes. I don't know where that's going tobe, whether that's in Philly or anywhere else, I just want to havea chance to accomplish that."

Lastly, anytime a player bashesa front-office member in a very public way, the league officeshould take notice. Expect them to monitor this situation closelyto see if there were any possible under-the-table discussions,promises or agreements that violated league rules, similarto asituation that occurred in the early 2000s with the MinnesotaTimberwolves and Joe Smith. If the NBA discovers there was any kind ofagreement on a future long-term deal between Harden and the Sixersprior to him signing his team-friendly deal in 2021, thenPhiladelphia could face serious punishment.

Overall, this situation hasbecome an absolute mess. Both sides have some form of leverage overthe other, and neither seems to be in the “right.” The NBAseemingly never sleeps, and it seems as though we will have to keepan eye on what Harden or the 76ers' next moves mightbe.