If rumors and rumblings and reports are to be believed, the Philadelphia 76ers are hot to trot for James Harden.
It is, reportedly, to the point they’re willing to risk a massive trade with the Houston Rockets; though the Texas based NBA franchise wants no part in shipping The Beard elsewhere.
One would assume this means, operating under the theoretical that a trade could go down, the Sixers would be willing to move Ben Simmons. After all, the franchise appears tethered to Joe Embiid for the long haul, and trading for someone of Harden’s stature would inherently need a major name like Simmons attached.
What does all of this mean?
Absolutely nothing. For starters, Houston isn’t interested. Philly can supposedly want Harden all they want, but it takes two to tango. I can want to date Christina Ricci until the moon explodes, but that doesn’t mean it’s actual news that we might date or the feeling is mutual.
Moreover, we’re only a few weeks removed from the wayward 2019-20 NBA season. The league is just now hitting its peak in terms of offseason tomfoolery, which usually include massive names being attached to other franchises in deals that would take bonkers maneuvering to make happen.
Is the report to be believed? Sure. Of course. Why not? Why would a man working at Stadium, with an otherwise good-enough-reporting-wise rep, make such a thing up? It’s also worth noting his wording of the report, suggesting that Philly is “expected to be interested in,” as if there’s no interest yet, but it’s coming!
It’s a rather silly turn of words by our hero Shams. Either the Sixers are interested or they aren’t. How can someone project, through alleged reporting, an expectation of interest? Why wouldn’t they just be interested… like… now? It’s certainly verbiage semantics in order to protect himself, the source, and however the source explained the situation to him.
Honestly, and I’ve positioned college coaches in this corner myself, this could just be a report spurned by a happy accident following an otherwise benign question. Something such as someone half-joking about the Sixers trading for Harden, and then the reporter asking if the franchise would be interested in the guard if on the market, and the source saying something along the lines of, “Of course I’d expect the Sixers to be interested.” Then, because attention is a key commodity to an access merchant like Shams, he reports on it.
Even if not anything like the word vomit above, often information like this tends to get leaked for reasons that have little to do with the alleged deal one team is looking to make.
Sometimes it’s mind games. A way for a team to light a fire under the assumed player they’d need to trade in order to bring in a new star.
Other times, it’s simply just hogwash hurled out to the void in order to see fan reaction to the idea of the franchise potentially — down the line and not for this exact deal — moving on from a current star.
There’s also a billion (roughly) other reasons for this news to come out at this stage in the game.
Nonetheless, in this moment in history, all the rumblings coming out of Philly likely have very little to do with James Harden actually ending up there. It could, of course, down the line. But in terms of a trade for The Beard this offseason, it’s simply not happening.
In case I’m wrong, and unlike the following subheading, no one screen grab the above take for prosperity.
Wendell Carter Jr. Hacked… And Thirsty
Chicago Bulls big man Wendell Carter Jr. was apparently hacked on Election Day, posting at a woman to check her direct messages on the mean streets of Twitter.
In the since deleted tweets, Carter’s “hacker” took his shot at a woman. Luckily for us, someone screen captured the tweets for prosperity.
Relax, pal.
Despite an ankle injury costing him a chunk of the campaign, Carter averaged 11.3 points and 9.4 rebounds in 43 games over the course of last season. He’s a good talent with a bright future.
Anything else here? Oh! The hacker also allegedly went to Saquon Barkley, asking the Giants running back to check his DMs as well, but there’s no proof through screenshots (that I can find) that it actually happened.
Anywho, of all the things to do when hacking someone’s account, randomly messaging women on Twitter to check their DMs is one of the weirder, creepier things that can happen.
Be safe out there on social media, kids. It’s a wasteland of creeps, wackos and diabolical humans.
Sam Darnold’s Time Is Over Or Something?
According to Joe Douglas, a man tasked with building the New York Jets into being a thing, Sam Darnold is an ultra-elite talent who… he will not commit to moving forward.
Or something? Likely something, but per rules of New York reporting, things are getting messy for the Jets.
During a conference call, the general manager went from saying Darnold is the future of the franchise to refusing to answer a simple question about committing to him next season, instead opting to say, “Look, we’re trying to get through the next eight games.”
What a vote of confidence!
For non-Jets fans, as quickly as possible, name five offensive skill position players on the roster.
No. Quicker!
Unless you’re a die-hard fantasy football player or an actual Jets fan (or a sicko), it’s probably hard to name five guys who can actually help Sexy Samuel Darnold excel in New York, and that’s not even counting the offensive line he’s playing behind.
The hell if I know how good or bad Darnold is, but bailing on him this early, especially after failing to put talent around him, seems counterproductive. Even if you select a projected better gunslinger in the 2021 NFL Draft, that dude is just going to come to New York with the same problems Darnold is facing.
Oh, also, Adam Gase is there.
Keep all QBs out of New York until the hilariously overhyped “quarterback whisper” is kicked to the curb.
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Joseph used to write a bunch of things for places like Forbes, FRS and others. Now he’s ‘the man’ in management. A big old loser. A washed, leathery face, too. Here’s his own newsletter.