James Harden’s availability for 76ers’ season opener vs. Bucks in doubt as star guard misses another practice

James Harden’s availibility for the Philadelphia 76ers’ opening evening showdown with the new-look Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday is unclear as he continues to stay clear of the staff. The veteran guard, who has driven for a business all summer season, didn’t practice on Monday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, proceeding a contemporary pattern. 

Late remaining week, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Harden was once in Houston and clear of the staff because of a non-public subject. As a end result, he overlooked a couple of days of practice and didn’t play in the staff’s preseason finale in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. 

Harden didn’t play a unmarried minute in the preseason, and Sixers trainer Nick Nurse admitted he is ready to start out the season with out the 10-time All-Star. 

“I think I’ve been preparing for it all this week, for sure,” Nurse mentioned on Friday. “Lots of thought has gone into him not playing and preparing the team that way this summer. I keep saying, there is another plan if something changes. I don’t think it’s affected us very much, at all. We’ve just gone out and played and we’re going to have to go out play the way we’re trying to play. I think that is without (him) until something changes.”

Harden first asked a business in June, and because then has tried to drive Sixers president Daryl Morey’s hand with a large number of escalation ways. He known as Morey a “liar” throughout an match in China over the summer season and mentioned he would “never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” That stunt earned Harden a $100,000 effective. Undeterred, he was recently seen partying at a membership whilst indicators that mentioned “Daryl Morey is a liar.” Now, Harden has been a no-show for nearly all of coaching camp and the preseason. 

All indicators point out that Harden will proceed to make existence tricky for the Sixers if they don’t business him. “This is an escalation in tactics, this is, ‘I am not happy,'” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported last week. “As somebody close to him told me, this is only the beginning of what he plans to do here.”

Harden desires to be traded to the Clippers, however the two facets are lately at an deadlock in negotiations. The present hold-up is the inclusion of Terance Mann, consistent with The Athletic’s Sam Amick. Morey is keen to phase with Harden for an unprotected first around select, a first-round select switch and Mann, however the Clippers reportedly believe Mann untouchable. 

While different executives might buckle to the drive, the Ben Simmons saga confirmed us that Morey is keen to let issues get uncomfortable quite than settle for what he perspectives as deficient price. As a end result, Harden is also caught in Philadelphia for much longer than he was once expecting. Whether he’s going to swimsuit up whilst he is there is still observed.