James Harden to sign two-year, $81.5 million deal with Clippers
Clippers’ leaders were serious when they said they hadn’t embellished on the future of James Harden with the franchise after a disappointing performance in the playoffs.
Harden refused his player option for 36 million dollars with the Clippers on Sunday and intends to sign a two -year agreement with the team for $ 81.5 million, the league sources knowing the unauthorized agreement to discuss it publicly. The second year is a player option and is partially guaranteed.
The agreement gave Harden an increase and the clippers a certain salary flexibility in the future.
“It is our priority N ° 1,” said Lawrence Frank, the president of the clippers basketball operations, to the media after the first round of the project on Wednesday evening. “We hope that James is here and that he has been here for a long time. He has a player option, so that he can oppose … or he can unsubscribe and I hope that we can make an agreement that makes sense for both sides. But James, as you know, was phenomenal and we hope to continue to see his game.”
Although the Clippers wrote a center in the first round with the 30th choice, obtaining the Yanic Konan Niederhauser from Penn State, Frank said that his team “would probably have at least three centers”.
The clippers can use their non-taxable intermediate level exception which should be around $ 14.1 million in one or two players, and maybe even find a center.
Harden played 79 games last season, played the fifth more total minutes in total of the NBA (2,789), finished fifth in the league in assists (8.7), on average 22.8 points per game and was the only player with 1,500 points, 500 assists, 100 interceptions and 50 blocks.
Harden, however, had trouble during the playoffs, with an average of 18.7 points per match in the series that the Clippers lost against the Nuggets. He scored only 33 points combined in defeats 4, 5 and 7, including seven points in match 7.
Clipper goalkeeper James Harden tried to shoot the team’s victory against San Antonio Spurs on April 8 at Intuit Dome.
(Carrie Giordano / Associated Press)
Harden is 36 years old in August and was not made available to speak with the media during the traditional exit interviews that each team generally organizes to close a season.
“When it was James this year without Kawhi, with norm [Powell] And [Ivica] Zubac and the rest of the group, we really asked James to do a lot, “said Frank shortly after the elimination of the clippers of the playoffs.
“And at his age to deliver what he did …[He played in] 79 games, and he does it many times. We have a deep appreciation for this kind of availability and to be able to deliver and do what he has done … We have a great level of appreciation for what James did this year. »»
