James Harden cuts his salary in contract renewal with the Sixers

James Harden has renewed his contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, and as earlier reported, for less money than what was indicated by the salary scale. The player has kept his word and has been monitoring the situation of the squad with the franchise to help improve the team.

James Harden signs two-year contract

The former NBA MVP has just decided to sign his new agreement with the team and it will be as follows: two more years at a total of $68.6 million, with the deal including a player option after the first year. The first season will have $33 million insured money, and in the second, if he does not execute his exit, he will receive $35.6 million.

Harden turned down his player option that would have earned him $47.4 million in 2022/23. After collaborating with Philadelphia, the new deal has been achieved, beneficial for both, and with a clear idea: to win the title.

Sixers to strengthen squad

This strategy had been known since the opening of the summer market and allowed the Sixers to strengthen other areas of the squad. This was key to the arrival of P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, who had also been Harden’s teammates in Houston, and also allowed the transfer to get De’Anthony Melton in a trade with the Grizzlies.

These figures would renew a group that had been a strong candidate in the Eastern Conference for several years and blend with Sixers stalwarts Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.

It is a deliberate gesture by Harden to show that his commitment goes beyond what he can earn by contract. When he was transferred from the Nets, he gave the go-ahead to stay one more year through his old contract, but this summer this other strategy came out of his mind: charge less to give it to other players. In total, the cut is just over $14 million.

“I told Daryl to sign whoever he needed and give me whatever was left over. That’s how hard I want to win. I want to compete for the championship, that’s all that matters to me at this stage. I’m going to take less to put ourselves in that position”, he assured in a recent interview with Yahoo. In it, he says that now they are “a much deeper team, which was what we wanted to achieve.”