One former teammate is adding some more spice to the James Harden rumor soup.
Ex-NBA big man Kendrick Perkins appeared this week on Showtime’s “All the Smoke” and had another rumor about the Brooklyn Nets star.
“James Harden didn’t sign his contract extension,” said Perkins. “He didn’t sign it. He was supposed to sign it … Now James Harden’s camp was telling people in Philly, ‘We wanna come play with [Joel] Embiid next year.’ This ain’t no lie, this facts.”
Harden, who was acquired by the Nets in a trade last season, can actually become a free agent in the offseason if he turns down his $47.3 million player option for 2022-23. A rumor from earlier this week already suggested that Harden may not be happy in Brooklyn for a few different reasons.
While Perkins, who works for ESPN, often says things for attention, he was teammates with Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons. Perkins also played with both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at various points in their respective careers, so he is pretty well-connected when it comes to the Nets.
We know that Sixers GM Daryl Morey, who used to be Harden’s GM on the Houston Rockets, has been trying hard to trade for The Beard. If Philly can wait until Harden’s potential free agency this summer, it might not even have to give up anything to get him.
