Is the 76ers’ James Harden about to go play in China?

As he continues to tour the Asian nation, speculation is intensifying stateside. As one can imagine his recent allusions to possibly playing in the republic have only served to further fan the flames of rhetoric in the media.

Is James Harden about to play in China?

You’ve probably seen by now that Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden is having a good time in China. Following a stunning video earlier this week in which he declared to fans in the nation that 76ers president Daryl Morey is a liar, we’ve seen Harden practicing his dance moves, celebrating massive sales of his brand of wine in seconds, and generally enjoying his tour of one of the NBa’s biggest markets. This is all to say that while his hints aat playing in China definitely turned heads, they are by no means without context. “Every time I come here, the love is just like...it’s crazy, you know what I mean?” Harden said. “So I feel like they deserve to actually see me come play here. ...Love is always crazy here.”

Now, as mentioned before, Harden recently had some choice words for the president of the franchise that he plays for and went on to state that he will not play for the team as long as Morey is part of it. As is the case with anything context is always important. Harden is in the middle of what appears to be a contractual dispute i.e., he took a pay cut last year while publicly stating that he wanted to give the team greater flexibility to build a roster, only to find no offer of an extension this year. At that point, the former MVP requested a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers which has since fallen through, and here we are in the middle of a standoff.

So, what happens with James Harden now?

To be honest, we’re not sure. At present reports indicate that Harden is prepared to miss training camp if he isn’t traded. On the other hand, should he go that road there could be some serious consequences where the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is concerned as it pertains to a contracted player refusing to render services. To be clear the CBA states that if a player in the final year of their contract - Harden is - “withholds services” for more than 30 days, they will be in violation of their contract and as such will be barred from free agent status until the team they played for last “expressly agrees otherwise.” To be clear, such a situation would indeed affect any potential move abroad.

What would James Harden in China look like?

Exactly as you’d expect. As we’ve seen with past players who have made the jump to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) in the past, the numbers they put on the board were silly, to say the least. Where Harden is specifically concerned, he would be the biggest former NBA player to join the CBA so far and would almost certainly be the showpiece of any team he joined. That being said, it wouldn’t be about the money as the CBA limits spending on foreign players to just $5 million i.e., that would be a more than significant pay cut for the 10-time NBA All-Star. To be clear, Harden is set to make $35.6 million this coming season. As we always say, watch this space.