James Harden must enjoy the speculation that surrounds him.
After an ESPN report that Harden turned down a two-year extension with Houston – which would have made him the first player in NBA history to make $ 50 million a season – the former MVP posted a short and cryptic video on the social media in which he takes the cap off a bottle.
“No cap” is slang for not lying.
See the 2020 NBA draft live with ESPN on Kayo starting Thursday 11:30 a.m. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now and start streaming right away>
Harden tries to force Houston to trade him in for the Brooklyn Nets to form a super team with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But he has little leverage to trigger a deal.
The 31-year-old has several years left on his contract with Houston, which has no reason to bargain less with the Nets when the Rockets can purchase better packages with other teams like Philadelphia.
So far, ESPN reports that Houston and Brooklyn have had talks, but there has been “no meaningful dialogue”.
Despite making the playoffs in each of his eight seasons in Houston, Harden has not made it to the NBA finals since working with Durant in Oklahoma City in 2012.
Harden reportedly pushed back the richest deal in NBA history to impose a deal on a rival.
Rumors have raged throughout the week that Harden is looking to get off the rockets as the team implodes from Hell itself after a tumultuous season.
The 31-year-old scoring machine determined to leave the Rockets comes after reports that Houston’s other superstar Russell Westbrook is also planning to leave after coach Mike D’Antoni and GM Daryl Morey walked out the door.
The Harden rumors turned into much more than speculation on Tuesday (AEST) when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the former Thunder Guard had refused a two-year extension to the monster contract that left Harden jailed for five years until the end of the 2024-25 season would be .
The report describes that with the two-year deal, Harden would become the first player in league history to earn more than $ 50 million in one season.
Harden reportedly has $ 131.5 million left on his deal with the Rockets, which has three more seasons left.
With the Rockets’ latest offer, Harden would raise $ 103 million in the last two years of his contract – more than $ 140 million, or $ 70 million per season.
It would bring Harden’s five-year deal with the Rockets to the astonishing $ 272 million.
This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.
.
