Harden Considers Accepting Magic's Top Salary Contract: It's Difficult to Match the Quotation with Bangalore Clippers for 400 Years

According to the latest report of Shams Salania, a well-known NBA reporter, Anthony Parker, the general manager of the Magic, once the free agent market opens in the summer, the Magic plans to provide James Harden with a contract offer of $200 million for four years. If the Magic insists on signing Harden with the top salary of $100 million, the Clippers may not match the offer.

Harden has played for five teams in 15 years. This summer is a good opportunity for him to obtain the last multi-year top salary contract in his career. However, Clippers management has no plan to meet Harden's contract renewal price. "Harden wants to stay with the Clippers. He doesn't intend to make concessions in terms of contract salary, but also decides to enter the free agent market to seek a better contract." Salania said, "The Magic has reached an internal consensus and will strive to sign Harden or Russell."

The Magic ranked fifth in the Eastern China with 47 wins in the regular season, and lost the first round tiebreaker in the playoffs, initially having some competitiveness. Bangalore grew up to be an all-star forward, Franz Wagner and Jay Saggs also realized their talents. The young team of the technical team is very competitive, and the team is one top point guard away from becoming a championship team. Magic's core lineup is in the rookie contract period. This summer, an experienced all-star point guard was introduced, which will have a very good chance to win the championship in the next two or three years.

"From the perspective of team salary, Magic is in a very favorable position." Salania said, "Magic has six players whose contracts have expired. The contracts of Joe Ingalls and Moritz Wagner are team options. Magic can now clear more than 30 million dollars of salary space to sign Harden." In addition, Jonathan Isaac's contract of 17.4 million dollars in the 2024-25 season is only 7.6 million dollars guaranteed. The salary cap is expected to exceed 141 million dollars next season. Magic can provide Harden with a contract with a starting salary of more than 40 million dollars.

Several executives of the league confirmed that if Harden chose to leave the Clippers, the team he was most likely to join was Magic. "The Magic is most likely to sign Harden, and General Manager Anthony Parker will turn his attention from Clay Thompson to Harden." Salania said, "The Magic management and Harden's agent Michael Silverman had preliminary contact, and the two sides intend to further in-depth communication."

Magic has always planned to sign Clay Thompson. The first round of the playoffs saw 19.3 assists at the bottom of the table and 13.9 mistakes at the second place. It is in urgent need of an excellent point guard to upgrade the lineup. Magic stars are also respected. In a recent interview, they said they would like to be teammates with Harden if they have the opportunity. "Durant, James, Curry and Harden are all players in my opponent's list," said Bangalore. "I watched their games when I was eight or nine years old. They played high-level games in the league for a long time, and of course, I hope to have the opportunity to play with them."

Bangalore showed a high level of competitive state in his first playoff game, averaging 27 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4 assists, 45.6% shooting percentage, 40% three-point shooting percentage, and 2.3 shots in 5.7 shots per game. The performances of Wagner and Sargus are also commendable. It is undoubtedly a wise decision for the Magic to sign Harden to lead the young Magic team.

"Haden will seriously consider accepting the contract offer of the Magic. Joining this young and talented team may be a better choice than the Clippers." Salania said that Haden, together with Bangalore, will lead the Magic and become the most competitive team in the East. The Magic plan to sign Harden at the top salary for many years, which can ensure that they have the opportunity to make a difference in the playoffs in the next two years, and have great flexibility in the future.

For Clippers, once Magic officially quoted Harden with a top salary of $200 million, their salary space was difficult to allow them to match Magic's offer.