James Harden saga continues decade of Sixers’ crazy summers

76ers beat writer Derek Bodner went through the years and determined that the team does, or suffers something unorthodox every summer. 

Whether it’s an All-Star point guard refusing to play, a team executive criticizing his players on a burner account, or, well, an All-Star point guard refusing to play, the Sixers’ summers are definitely not boring.

In 2013, new general manager Sam Hinkie began “The Process,” his plan to get Philly as bad as possible to collect high draft picks. To that end, he traded Jrue Holiday, his 23-year-old All-Star, for two high draft picks. As if that wasn’t dramatic enough, the Sixers didn’t disclose Holiday’s fractured leg to the Pelicans at the time, which led to a $3 million fine.

The next year, the 76ers drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric in the lottery. Neither player played for Philadelphia in the next two seasons. In 2015, the Sixers used the No. 3 pick on center Jahlil Okafor, the third year in a row they’d taken a center with a top-six pick, a run reminiscent of Matt Millen drafted three straight first-round wide receivers for the Lions.

After a 1-21 start in 2015-16, the team hired Jerry Colangelo as an advisor. After the season, Hinkie wrote a 13-page, 7,000-word letter of resignation. That’s so long it counts as a manifesto. Shocking no one, they hired Colangelo’s son Bryan as the new GM.

In 2017, they traded up to draft Markelle Fultz at No. 1, and Fultz promptly lost the ability to shoot. The next summer, The Ringer discovered that Colangelo or his wife had fake “burner” Twitter accounts that slammed Sixers players and defended Colangelo’s decisions and fashion choices, at one point tweeting “That is a normal collar. Move one, find a new slant.”

If that wasn’t enough, the Sixers drafted Mikal Bridges, the son of a team employee who went to college in Philly at Villanova. Then they traded him on draft night for Zhaire Smith—who nearly died after an allergic reaction to the chicken the 76ers served him (he played just 13 career games.)

In 2019, the Sixers’ management let Jimmy Butler go to Miami, gave Tobias Harris a five-year max contract and signed another center, Al Horford. Butler led the Heat to the Finals, so that summer the 76ers fired coach Brett Brown and hired Doc Rivers. Then they hired Morey, stuck with a coach and a GM (Elton Brand) he didn’t hire.

In 2021, Ben Simmons refused to play and demanded a trade. They eventually flipped him for Harden, who opted out of his contract so the Sixers could sign his old Houston teammates. But this was botched too, as the Sixers lost two second-round picks when they were found guilty of tampering with the free agents.

We’ve had near-death experiences, false identities, literary resignations and countless player-team conflicts. It’s so much drama that the Sixers are starting to recycle plotlines—we saw the disgruntled point guard trade demand story two years ago!

Fans are understandably getting sick of the drama, which hasn’t led to better results on the court. MVP Joel Embiid might be getting sick of it as well, and at the perfect time. A trade demand from Embiid would be the perfect chaotic Sixers story for next summer.