The Philadelphia 76ers have been the focus of a couple of investigations by the NBA over the last year, and the league reportedly could be tuning up a third after James Harden’s now infamous comments about the team’s general manager earlier this week.
Over the last year, the NBA has twice taken a closer look at the Philadelphia 76ers’ decisions on player transactions. The first investigation came almost a year ago when the organization was found guilty of illegal contact with free agents PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. The infractions ended up costing the team their 2023 and 2024 second-round picks.
Then the second came soon after when James Harden surprisingly took a $14 million pay cut from his previous contract and inked a two-year, team-friendly deal with Philly last summer. The discount rate helped the Sixers get needed wiggle room under the luxury tax to add Tucker and House and trade for De’Anthony Melton. It was found there was no wrongdoing in the contract.
Earlier this week, after reports claimed that the team called off trade talks for James Harden, the future Hall-of-Famer went public by calling GM Daryl Morey a liar and claiming he will never play for the team ever again. Those comments may set up a third investigation into the team in the last year.
Philadelphia 76ers could be investigated by NBA for third time in the last year
On Friday, NBA insider Marc Stein claimed “There are now calls for the league to re-investigate Philly again to try to assess what Morey allegedly lied to Harden about.”
“If Harden is suggesting that the Sixers made some sort of contractual promise last summer — which the team has adamantly denied and maintains it was already cleared of doing — they will certainly be subject to league discipline. If Harden is suggesting that Morey promised to trade him in late June after Harden picked up next season’s $35.6 million player option and then reneged on that promise, that is not a violation of league rules even if true.”
– Marc Stein
Stein claims Harden is unlikely to face any discipline for his comments and would only be in trouble if he publicly called for a trade, which he hasn’t done yet.