I think this points to what everybody had speculated. James took a pay cut with the hush hush promise of a bigger deal after the season. James probably asked for that player option thinking he could just leave, but there aren’t a lot of teams lining up to give Harden a 4 year $200m deal. Now he’s stuck, and Morey is stuck.
Man it’s a good thing that Darryl Morey didn’t like, take a huge gamble on him, based on their history together.
Oh.
James Harden was a transcendent offensive talent, even though he’s never been much fun to watch. But I can’t remember a player who has had a sadder (or quicker?) descent from MVP-caliber to actively cancerous ring-chaser.
He’ll still probably get a ring, somewhere. IF (and it’s a big if, actually) he can stay healthy, stay in shape, and be comfortable actually being the third or fourth best guy on a title team.
![[Shams] James Harden: “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again..."](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ba4d82d8-45fb-4e09-96c9-d490a6a73288.png){kind=link}