Philadelphia 76ers' disgruntled star James Harden is currently in a standoff with his team as they have so far failed to accommodate his trade request, and while each party appears to be in no rush to make the first move, NBA writer Mark Medina expects one side to become ‘antsy’ by the time training camp approaches.

NBA news – Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers must have thought that they hit the jackpot when they were able to offload subpar star Ben Simmons in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets for 10x All-Star, James Harden back in February 2022.

Now they find themselves in a situation eerily reminiscent of the saga with Simmons. According to Jamal Collier of ESPN, after exercising his player option for the 2023-24 season and subsequently submitting a trade request, his third since January 2021, the 33-year-old expected the 76ers to accommodate his wishes this off-season.

After calling out Sixers GM Daryl Morey and publicly brandishing him a “liar”, Harden was fined $100k by the NBA. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps subsequently reported that the NBA players' association (NBAPA) condemned the fine and intended to file a grievance disputing it, citing that they believed there was no such violation of the rule against public trade demands.

The report went on to suggest that with 76ers’ training camp due to commence on October 2nd, Harden is supposedly now planning to attend in order to avoid the financial ramifications associated with failing to do so. This comes after reports from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, who reported that the 2018 MVP was initially planning to forgo training camp as a signal of his intentions to never play for the organization again.

For now at least, though, there has yet to be any new developments on either the trade saga or the feud between Harden and Morey, and who will make the first move in this apparent chess match remains to be seen.

Will James Harden or the Philadelphia 76ers ‘blink first?’

Medina believes that while both parties are in no rush to resolve the trade situation, by the time training camp rolls around, frustration from one side is expected, although which side remains to be seen.

Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said: "Both the Sixers and James Harden are waiting to see which one blinks first. In fairness, neither party has any urgency to do so. Harden has enjoyed overseas promotional tours. The Sixers haven’t received any offers that would keep them in championship contention. But expect one party to become antsy once training camp approaches. My hunch is that Harden blinks first since he would face financial consequences for not reporting to training camp."

What’s next for the Philadelphia 76ers?

Looking ahead to next season, the 76ers rotation may look vastly different to last season regardless of whether they have to contend with the loss of James Harden, or not. Although Philadelphia has retained its core of Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey, the team saw the departures of key members of the rotation in Shake Milton, Jalen McDaniels and Georges Niang.

As per Basketball Reference, the76ers finished the regular season with a 54-28 record which secured them the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference, and third overall in the NBA. They ranked fourth in the league for offensive rating with 117.7, while ranking eighth overall for defensive rating with 113.3, largely thanks to their franchise superstar Joel Embiid, who was the recipient of the 2023 NBA MVP award.

Philadelphia were able to pick up both Mo Bamba and veteran Patrick Beverly in free-agency, and will be hoping that they can each provide some meaningful contributions on the court, as well as some much-needed depth on a seemingly depleted roster on paper.

With the future of James Harden remaining the biggest question mark hanging over the Sixers as they prepare to go into training camp, the roster could still change yet, and the starting line-up for their 2023-24 regular season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks could be unrecognizable to the one which played the majority of last season.