It’s a beautiful Monday morning. The Eagles’ preseason began over the weekend. The Phillies have shaken off the cobwebs in advance of their October run. And the Philadelphia Union are about to host Lionel Messi in a high-stakes Leagues Cup semifinal game. Everything was hunky dory until the Sixers’ shitstorm spit out another reason for fans to loathe their team:

 

“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”

Remember those Gabe Kapler years imploring the Phillies to “Be Bold”? Yeah. This qualifies. What we’re witnessing is an extinction level event in NBA terms. The giant Harden asteroid that’s been hurling towards Planet Sixers –who believed their Morey defense beam could save the day– has made landfall. The reverberations are already being felt around the league.

How we got here really doesn’t matter. Did Daryl Morey promise last year that he’d re-sign Harden to a lucrative nine-figure deal this off-season? Did ownership step in? Ultimately, it’s all bullshit.

Player empowerment detractors will say it’s a selfish move on Harden’s part. Your uncle who shows up at the family picnic will yell about Harden having had the option to opt-out. Your young cousin will throw some graphs in your face and try to show how if you extrapolate the data of Game 1 against the Celtics to a full season, Harden would be a Top-10 player in the league.

The thing that matters now is getting this guy out of town, selling of a distressed asset whose value has dropped dramatically year-over-year, and who now stands to waste another season of Joel Embiid’s prime.

Once that’s done, maybe it’ll be time to look at the President of Basketball Ops, who’s done little-to-nothing to inspire confidence since getting here. Who tied his cart to the Harden and Rockets of Yesteryear horse. Who appears poised to oversee another flawed roster that will inevitably exit the playoffs far too early.

Happy Monday.

UPDATE: Harden might have really screwed himself.

Here’s the CBA language for Withholding Services:

Withholding services: A player who withholds playing services called for by a Player Contract for more than thirty (30) days after the start of the last Season covered by his Player Contract shall be deemed not to have “complet[ed] his Player Contract by rendering the playing services called for thereunder.” Accordingly, such a player shall not be a Veteran Free Agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a Player Contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the Team for which the player last played expressly agreed otherwise.

Get your popcorn ready. To quote Jim Ross, business is about to pick up.