James Harden opted into his contract and asked for a trade, sending the Sixers’ offseason into a tailspin. Now it’s impossible to know quite where things stand. One day we’re hearing the Sixers want the 10-time All-Star back, the next Harden is calling Daryl Morey a “liar” for apparently promising to trade him but that hasn’t happened since the Clippers don’t appear very interested in acquiring James, and well.... yeah.
But with all of the swirling uncertainty in mind (including whether or not Harden will actually be on the team and if so will he actually play or hold out, and if he plays will he actually try hard or just embarrass himself and flop around) the ESPN staff tackled the difficult job of trying to project this volatile tinderbox of a franchise.