How should the 76ers front office manage relationship with James Harden? | Good Word with Goodwill
Yahoo Sports senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwill is joined by former Knicks General Manager Scott Perry to discuss the James Harden - Philadelphia 76ers saga and how he would handle the situation. Hear the full conversation on “Good Word with Goodwill” - part of the “Ball Don’t Lie” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
VINCENT GOODWILL: Now you're in the era where free agency doesn't really exist as much anymore. Players will get their money from their existing teams and then ask out. That brings us to James Harden, right? James Harden has quit his job, Scott. He just didn't notify anybody that he has quit his job.
He didn't give him a two-week notice. He showed up one day, and then he didn't show up. And then he tried to come back because he decided, hey, maybe I can get paid while not playing. Not exactly what happened, but for the purposes of being funny, that's what he did. He showed up to the airplane.
Now, Scott, as somebody who has had to deal with trading Carmelo Anthony when you walked into New York in 2017 and then even before that when you took over in Orlando in 2012, you had to deal with the Dwight Howard situation.
When there is a player who wants out and he doesn't want to play for the franchise anymore, you're a little different than Daryl Morey because Daryl Morey played a part in creating the James Harden situation. With you, you walked into situations that were done before you got there. How do you go about managing the people part of player who wants out, let me see what I can get back, I'm starting a rebuild, and let me make sure I can get as much as possible while also doing right by the player because I haven't done anything wrong to the player?
SCOTT PERRY: Great question. That is one of the major issues of the day for any front office person. And I think it really begins and ends with your ability to communicate. Let's, you and I, establish a communication, a dialogue about what you're trying to look to do.
Also, I want you to understand what my job is and what I have to do. And let's see if there's common ground in terms of being able to trade that player to a place that he may want to go while we're receiving back players or draft picks or whatever the case may be that help our vision in moving forward.
You never know what the marketplace is going to look like for said player, especially if the league knows that the player wants out, and he's just interested in a handful of players. Or how many years does the guy have left on his contract?
So in James Harden's situation, he's on an expiring contract. So now if you're going to give up a substantial amount for him, you've got to know that, A, that you want him there beyond this year and, B, feel confident that you can re-sign him and keep him there.