Reports have emerged once again that James Harden might demand a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. At first glance, that would make sense considering that the team didn’t come close to winning an NBA title. As we all know, Harden joined forces with Joel Embiid. However, in the two seasons that they have played together, they have been eliminated in the second round by the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics respectively.
This has clearly not been the outcome that Harden desired. Especially since he left the Houston Rockets back in 2020 in order to compete for a title. Now that the team has fallen short of expectations, these reports regarding potential trade rumors have grown. Let us take a closer look and find out more.
Will James Harden return to the Houston Rockets?
To quickly recap Harden’s career, he was drafted into the Oklahoma City Thunder and played alongside Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. However, he was soon traded to the Houston Rockets and turned them into contenders in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, he was stopped by either the Warriors or the Lakers during his time there.
As a result of this, Harden decided to pair up with KD and Kyrie Irving as a player on the Brooklyn Nets. However, he didn’t like the way things operated there and was soon traded to the 76ers. As Harden approached the back end of his career, he moved around the league in an attempt to win NBA championships.
James Harden is ‘very serious’ about returning to Houston, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/UodboahxBS
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 15, 2023
NBA Inside Adrian Wojnarowski shared that “James Harden is ‘very serious’ about returning to Houston.” Although that wouldn’t make sense since he won’t be able to win a title there, it is still the place he was loved and appreciated the most. Even though James is at the back end of his career, he would certainly be welcomed there in a suitable trade.
In all fairness, we shouldn’t hold too much value to these rumors circulating on social media. After all, the 76ers just got eliminated and it would be the perfect time to draw up theories on potential trade demands. Since no official trade has been reported, it is still unclear what Harden’s destination in the future looks like. Assuming he leaves Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.