James Harden absent from 76ers practice amid ongoing trade saga

James Harden was a no-show at Philadelphia 76ers practice Wednesday and has not been with the team since Sunday, according to multiple reports. It’s the latest chapter in Harden’s ongoing standoff with the team after the 10-time All-Star demanded a trade to the LA Clippers over the summer.

Harden is reportedly in Houston, per Yahoo! Sports.

76ers coach Nick Nurse said he had expected Harden to both practice on Wednesday and play on Friday.

“From the last discussions I’ve had with him and from everybody, yeah,” Nurse said. “I’m still going on what he said the last time I talked him, that he was going to ramp up and get ready to play Friday. We’ll see how it goes.’

However, Nurse plans to proceed as if the disgruntled guard will play in the preseason finale.

“If he’s here, we go; if he’s not here, we go,” Nurse told reporters at the 76ers’ New Jersey complex.

76ers star and defending NBA MVP Joel Embiid was coy in discussing his teammate’s absence.

“I don’t know,” Embiid told reporters. “Maybe he had something to do.”

Trade discussions are reportedly ongoing with the Clippers, though the sides remain at an impasse over L.A.’s refusal to include Terance Mann in a trade package, making it increasingly likely that Harden will begin the season on Philadelphia’s roster.

Harden had a very public fallout with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey at the beginning of the summer, reportedly over Morey’s reluctance to give Harden a four-year maximum contract extension.

[Weitzman: Emotion vs. Analytics: Why James Harden and Daryl Morey were always destined to implode]

Harden has repeatedly called Morey a “liar” publicly and has vowed to never again be part of the same organization as his boss in both Houston and Philadelphia, labeling their relationship as “beyond repair.”

Morey and the 76ers reportedly suspended trade talks with the Clippers in August before both sides revisited those talks earlier this month. Harden skipped the 76ers’ media day at the beginning of October but subsequently showed up at the team’s training camp in Colorado. However, he has not appeared in any of Philadelphia’s three preseason games and has continued to publicly swipe at the team in interviews.

[James Harden says his desire to ‘retire a Sixer’ wasn’t in team’s ‘future plans’]

It’s unclear when — or if — Harden will return to the team. The 76ers open the 2023-24 NBA season against the Bucks in Milwaukee on Oct. 26.

Harden has been one of the league’s top players for the past decade, winning three scoring titles and the 2018 league MVP award. He led the league in assists last season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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