Embiid Hints At Moving On While Report Reveals Sixers' "Unreasonable" Asking Price For Harden

The James Harden situation in Philadelphia continues to grow more bitter, and according to a new report by Philly Voice insider Kyle Neubeck, "there is a growing expectation that rift could lead to an even uglier battle."

Neubeck revealed that Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has set an "unreasonable" asking price for Harden.

The Sixers are demanding an "All-Star-level return" for James Harden in a trade, per @KyleNeubeck.

Philadelphia's request has been described as "unreasonable" by NBA executives. pic.twitter.com/0tT7VsraXy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 17, 2023

"The Sixers would prefer to be able to make or keep the team as competitive as possible as soon as possible," writes Neubeck, "but they believe that requires getting an All-Star-level return for Harden," something that rival executives have termed "unreasonable."

To be clear, Harden, 33, was not an All-Star last season (for the first time in 11 years), but still did lead the league in assists, at 10.7. His scoring (21.0) and rebounding (6.1), while solid, were far below his usual norms, and his playoff performance, as usual, took a bit of a dip.

Morey wants to get back a package in any Harden trade "that allows them to stay in the same tier of contention," and for now, that's putting the brakes on any deal, as there are apparently no other teams that value The Beard in the same stratosphere as Morey does.

In the meantime, Sixers fans are getting more and more nervous, as MVP Joel Embiid made a comment over the weekend that hints at him possibly moving on in the future.

Was not expecting Joel Embiid to say “or anywhere else” when talking about championships… He’s close to his breaking point here in Philly. pic.twitter.com/0MqXX1rnrT
— AJ Torres (@ajtorres1230) July 17, 2023

“I just want to win a championship, whatever it takes. I don’t know where that’s gonna be, whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else,” Embiid said. “I just want to have a chance to accomplish that and see what it feels like to win that first one and then think about the next one."

The fretting in Philly should be a saga to watch all summer.