Tracy McGrady knows a thing or two about issuing a trade request, as he rather famously asked the Orlando Magic to trade him in 2004 after Orlando finished the season with the worst record in the East. As such, the Hall of Famer understands better than most what goes through a star’s mind when it comes to issuing a trade demand and would empathize with the difficulty of making that decision.
In a recent interview with GQ, McGrady was asked about the two big trade requests this summer, noting that he gets where Damian Lillard was coming from, saying “it was time” for Lillard’s tenure in Portland to end. However, James Harden’s latest trade request evades him completely, as he has no idea what the hell Harden’s looking for if it’s not playing alongside the reigning MVP on a legit contender.
The evolution of the NBA. You get hit with some shit each and every year. Dame, to me, it was time. But if I’m Portland, I got to do what’s best for our franchise, as well. I’m not gonna give away you, Dame, with you just coming off averaging 32 points. You still got game. I gotta get someone back that’s All-Star caliber. And I don’t understand for the life of me what James Harden is doing. Why are you trying to get out?
…That makes zero sense to me. Not only that, but I look at all the teammates he’s played with. James has probably played with more Hall of Famers than anybody in the league, and he doesn’t have a ring to show for it. I don’t know what he’s looking for. And maybe there’s some internal bullshit that is going on that we don’t know about. Because it doesn’t make any sense to me to leave the MVP, and the Eastern Conference, where you have a shot to at least play for a championship. It’s got to be something deeper than what you know. Get over it, man.
There have been multiple reports of Harden feeling like he can’t trust the Sixers front office after taking a discount last summer and not getting offered the long-term deal he hoped for this summer. That certainly played a major role in his trade request, but given this is his third in four years, it’s also becoming a habit for him to bolt any time he becomes unhappy with a situation. As McGrady notes, sometimes you just have to “get over it, man” when it comes to those sorts of things when the goal is to win championships. We’ll see if Harden is able to get his way and end up on the Clippers, where he’ll pair with two new All-Stars in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, but you won’t find too much sympathy for Harden’s situation from T-Mac or many others.