Nick Piccone
One of the biggest off-season question marks for the Philadelphia 76ers is whether James Harden will return to the team after he opted out of his $35.6 million player option.
According to Keith Pompey of the Inquirer, sources believe Harden will reunite with the Houston Rockets this off-season.
The belief among NBA executives is that James Harden will rejoin the Houston Rockets this summer.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta “loves” the 76ers point guard. The franchise expects to reunite with him, sources say. Before hiring Ime Udoka on April 25, head coaching candidates were asked for their opinion on coaching Harden during the interview process, according to sources.
Despite scoring 40+ in two games during the second round against the Boston Celtics, Harden has largely been a regular-season player while disappearing in the playoffs. Much like Joel Embiid. Both of these players are going to have this label hang over their head until they actually win a championship. That remains to be seen.
As far as this being rumored all the way back to Christmas, one has to wonder whether the Rockets will face any consequences for clearly tampering with Harden and his camp.
Photo: Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images
You can follow Nick Piccone on Twitter (@_piccone) and e-mail him at [email protected]. You can read his pro wrestling articles on PhillyVoice here.
Subscribe to The Straight Shooters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Amazon, Audacy, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, Player FM, and wherever else you get your podcasts! Follow The Straight Shooters on Twitter (@theshooterspod), like them on Facebook, and listen to every episode at theshooterspod.com.
Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.