The biggest question of the Sixers’ offseason is now finally answered.
James Harden agreed to a new contract that will pay him $33 million for the 2022-23 season and has a $35.6 million player option for 2023-24, a source confirmed Wednesday night to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the terms of Harden’s deal with the Sixers. Since Harden declined his $47.4 million player option, it has been known that he will take significantly less than that figure.
Harden’s salary cut allowed the Sixers to sign PJ Tucker on the standard mid-level exception and Danuel House Jr. except twice a year. If he had exercised his pick, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey would have had a much tougher task searching for an improved supporting cast around Harden and MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.
“I had conversations with Daryl and it was explained how we can get better and what the market value is for certain players. I told Daryl to improve the roster, sign who we need to sign and give me whatever’s left,” Harden told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes on Sunday. “That’s how badly I want to win. I want to compete for a championship. That’s all that matters to me at this point. I’m willing to take less to put us in a position to achieve that.”
Because they’ve used twice a year and the standard mid-level waivers, the Sixers are “hard-capped” this season at a luxury tax cap of roughly $157 million. Harden’s $33 million salary would put the team at about $153.6 million, according to Spotrac.
Including Harden, the Sixers have 12 players with fully guaranteed NBA contracts. Trevelin Queen and Charles Bassey have partially guaranteed deals, while Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe have non-guaranteed contracts. Charlie Brown Jr. and Julian Champagne are the team’s current two-way contract players. Undrafted rookie big man Michael Foster Jr. signed a contract with Evidence 10 last week.
NBA teams can have up to 20 players during the offseason. They need to get down to 15 plus two two-way by the time the regular season starts.
Below is a rough Sixers depth chart as it stands:
Point guard
James Harden, Shake Milton
Shooting guard
Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Furkan Korkmaz, Isaiah Joe, Jaden Springer, Trevelin Queen
Small forward
Tobias Harris, Danwell House Jr., Mathis Thiboul, Charlie Brown Jr., Julian Champagne
Power forward
PJ Tucker, Georges Niang
Center
Joel Embiid, Paul Reed, Charles Bassey, Michael Foster Jr.
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