Harden may be able to stay in the team after cutting his salary. I really want the championship, so that the Clippers salary will be more flexible and more options for signing

On May 20, The Athletic reporter Danny Leroux pointed out that Harden and Batum of the Clippers may renew their contracts with the team through salary cuts, bringing more diversified signing options and salary flexibility to the team. As we all know, when Harden played for the Philadelphia 76ers, he had already chosen to cut his salary and let the team sign up. Now he is considering reducing his salary and signing up again. He really wants a championship. Harden will be a $36.3 million player option next season, determining the Clippers' salary layout.

The Clippers will have two major players that will affect the team's salary space next season, namely Harden, who has the $36.3 million player option, and Batum, who has the $4.9 million player option. There are only Harden and Batum in the main lineup, which can be flexibly executed, but the decision lies with their players. Danny Leroux said that if both Harden and Batum choose to execute the player option, the Clippers' total salary will be below the luxury tax, with about $12 million in operational space, which is not good for signings.

Although the team owner Ballmer is willing to bear a certain amount of luxury tax, the team's salary space is limited, and even if the middle class special case is added, it is impossible to introduce better players. Therefore, Danny Leroux believes that Harden's salary cut and staying in the team is to ensure that the Clippers maintain salary flexibility and more diversified recruitment options. With the Clippers giving small cards a big contract and George left the team, it seemed unreasonable for the Clippers to still think that Harden would continue to cut their salary.

However, for the sake of the championship, Harden may really choose to reduce his salary. After all, Harden now has everything except the champion. Danny Leroux also believes that Harden will likely choose to reduce his salary to stay in the team, which also allows the team to choose to introduce better helpers and increase the possibility of the Clippers winning the championship.