Philadelphia guard (or point guard) James Harden has agreed with the Philadelphia 76ers to sign a new two-year, $68 million contract, with a player option for the second season.
As expected, James Harden will indeed stay in Philadelphia. Arrived last February at the 76ers from Brooklyn as part of the exchange with Ben Simmons, the back (or leader) of almost 32 years (he will celebrate them on August 26) had chosen not to activate the player option to $47.4 million he had in his contract for next season. The most famous bearded man in world basketball therefore had the choice to join where he wanted, but he decided to stay in Pennsylvania, for a lower salary. In search of a very first NBA title, Harden has indeed decided to “sacrifice” himself by accepting a lower salary so that the franchise can recruit other good players. He therefore agreed with the 76ers to sign a new two-year contract for 68 million dollars: 33 million in 2022-23 and 35 million in 2023-24. The second season will be a player option, so he will decide whether he wants to stay or not. It’s the always knowledgeable Adrian Wojnarowski fromESPN who revealed the information on Wednesday.
21 points average for Harden in the regular season
Last season, James Harden averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds in 21 regular season games with Philadelphia, and 18.6 points, 8.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 12 games of playoffs. But it was not enough. Eliminated in the Conference semi-finals by Miami last May, the 76ers still can’t take the last steps, they who haven’t played a Conference Final and NBA Finals since 2001 (with Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo) or won an NBA title since 1983 (with Moses Malone and Julius Erving). They finally hope to achieve this next season, with their star duo James Harden – Joel Embiid, reinforced this summer by the arrival of PJ Tucker from Miami and Danuel House from Utah, without forgetting David Roddy, drafted in 23rd position. Also with Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey or Matisse Thybulle, the 76ers have plenty to do well. But the competition is very tough.
