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The Philadelphia 76ers open their season at the Milwaukee Bucks. The game tips off at 7:30pm ET and airs on TNT. However, James Harden will not play tonight.
Harden is not injured but listed on the injury report as away from the team. He of course has been holding out and hoping for a trade that has not come to fruition.
Reports say Harden finally returned to the team on Wednesday after missing most of training camp. However, the veteran did not travel with the team to Milwaukee. He also will not join the road trip and will miss their second game against the Toronto Raptors.
The team is keeping him in Philadelphia to work with team staff and work up conditioning for regular season games. Harden will practice and play against the G-League players for the Sixers affiliate Delaware Blue Coats. He did practice with the team on Wednesday before they left for their road game.
His first potential game could be Sunday at home against the Portland Trail Blazers. It will be interesting considering Harden asserted he would never play for a team run by Daryl Morey ever again. The Sixers said his performance and conditioning over the next few days will determine if he can go on Sunday.
Harden was away from the team for 10 days after a brief training camp appearance. Some reports say he was taking care of his ailing mother. Here's what Sixers coach Nick Nurse said on Harden:
"He is fine. "He understands he's got to get ramped up, and like I said, he's been gone for 10 days so he understands it. He wants to get back to playing live, full-court basketball."
James Harden Trade status
James Harden has demanded a trade and been left waiting for months. He did not receive a long-term extension from the Sixers earlier this summer. He opted into his $35.6 million player option.
He then demanded a trade to the LA Clippers. However, that move has not been made. Recent reports say the Clippers refused to include Terance Mann in the deal and thus Philadelphia did not budge.
James Harden also made matters worse when he called Morey “a liar”. He did so at a shoe event while on a promotional tour in China in August. The two sides remain at a standstill, and Harden seems to return to the team begrudgingly to avoid fines.
