James Harden’s reported interest in returning to the Houston Rockets in free agency this summer is common knowledge at this point. Whether it’s legitimate or a leverage play to get more money from the Sixers is anyone’s guess, although the Sixers have expressed confidence in their ability to re-sign him.
The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement could impact how much they’re willing to offer Harden this offseason, though.
The current CBA featured only one salary-cap apron, set roughly $7 million above the luxury-tax line. Teams above that line were limited to a smaller mid-level exception (the taxpayer MLE), lost access to the bi-annual exception and couldn’t receive a player via sign-and-trade, but those were the primary restrictions.