NBA Rumors: James Harden & Sixers Contract Situation Becoming Clearer

The future of James Harden in Philadelphia has been a hot topic since the 76ers bowed out of the NBA playoffs. He has a $47M player option for next season that he's expected to pick up, but what about beyond that?

According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Sixers are hesitant to give Harden a 4-year or 5-year maximum deal, instead looking at signing The Beard to a shorter extension in the range of two years.

Signing perhaps a two-year extension after his option season to create a new three-year framework would also provide Harden with greater optionality for his own career.

James Harden is expected to pick up his $47 million player option for next season and the Sixers are expected to sign him to a short term deal around 2 years instead of a longer term deal, according to @BleacherReport @JakeLFischer pic.twitter.com/CMvjG9Yi1g
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 16, 2022

Harden gains greater financial flexibility on year-by-year raises in a new contract if he waits until Aug. 10 to sign any extension. That's the six-month mark from the trade deadline deal that brought him to Philly in exchange for Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and Seth Curry.

With the free agency period beginning June 30th at 6:00pm ET, we should expect to hear that Harden has picked up his 2022-23 option in the next two weeks.

Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports