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The Brooklyn Nets are one of the primary teams that NBA fans think about when it comes to what could have been with a franchise having as much talent as they did just a few years ago. However, it’s not only Brooklyn that there is a what if as one of the players that were with them during their title contending window has a what if moment of his own.
James Harden was recently listed as one of the notable players that mismanaged their own market value by Bryan Toporek of Bleacher Report. The reason that Toporek listed Harden is because of everything that’s happened to him since his time with the Nets.
Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Harden had a chance to sign a three-year, $161 million ($53.6 million per year) extension with Brooklyn in October the 2021-22 season, but declined to sign an extension for an understandable reason. If Harden waited until the following summer, he would have been able to re-sign with the Nets to the tune of a four-year, $227 million ($56.7 million per) extension.
Granted, there wasn’t a bad option for Harden as the difference between those two outcomes is a little over $3 million per season and one extra year of security on the contract. The Nets traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers in February of 2022, just a few months after he declined his extension and he ended up re-signing with Philadelphia the following summer for two years and $68.6 million, a deal below what he could have signed for in his attempt to help the 76ers have more financial flexibility.
The 76ers traded Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in November of 2023 with him being set to be a free-agent after the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign. This summer, he re-signed with the Clippers on a two-year, $70 million deal.
Harden has made almost $69 million over the past two seasons when he could have made at least $106 million at the very least. Given how his career has transpired since he declined that extension from Brooklyn, it seems like he could be regretting the loss in income.