The Philadelphia 76ers' wantaway guard James Harden is just "looking to find happiness" after requesting a trade and engaging in a bitter war of words with Sixers president Daryl Morey.
That is the view of Chicago Bulls center and former Sixer Andre Drummond, who hopes Harden joins a team where he feels wanted.
Former MVP Harden requested a trade after exercising his player option for the 2023-24 season in June, the third time he has asked for a move since leaving the Houston Rockets in January 2021.
Having grown frustrated with Morey's handling of his contract situation during the offseason, Harden labelled the Sixers president a "liar" in August, declaring: "I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of".
Harden reportedly expected to be offered a long-term deal after Philadelphia were beaten by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.
He has since skipped practice on two occasions as the Sixers work towards their NBA season opener, which comes on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
While some have criticised Harden's conduct, Drummond, who joined the Brooklyn Nets as part of the trade which took Harden to Philadelphia last year, has sympathy for his position.
"I don't really get into the whole gossip aspect of the NBA," Drummond told Stats Perform. "I mean, with James, it's not his first time doing this.
"I think he's just going to try to find a way to make sure that he's happy and he goes into the best situation. I don't really have much else I can say on that.
"He's just looking to find happiness, so hopefully he gets to go where he wants to."
The Sixers' hopes for 2023-24 will be carried by reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who recently announced his intention to represent the United States at next year's Olympic Games in France.
Embiid averaged a career-high 33.1 points to lead the NBA last season, but the 29-year-old is yet to win a championship.
Drummond, who played alongside Embiid while with the Sixers in 2021-22, believes Philadelphia need to give the center a championship-winning team sooner rather than later.
Asked about Philadelphia's title hopes, Drummond said: "I think for Joel, they have to do it now. Now's the time.
"They've waited a long time, a lot of pieces have been added to their team that maybe aren't working out.
"I hope he does it. I hope he doesn't win against us, but I hope for the best for him. I really want him to win. I've got to play alongside him for a year and he deserves it. He works really hard."
Pelicans 'feeling the pressure', says Green after Hawks defeat
Willie Green revealed his New Orleans Pelicans' side are feeling the pressure after slumping to a ninth consecutive defeat against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Trae Young starred for the Hawks in their 124-112 triumph, scoring 12 points and 15 assists for his 15th double-double of the season to lead his side to a fourth-straight victory.
De'Andre Hunter scored a team-high 22 off the bench for the Hawks, while Jalen Johnson added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Pelicans were led by CJ McCollum's 29 points, one shy of his season best, with Yves Missi adding 23 points and 12 rebounds in another disappointing defeat.
Dejounte Murray played his first game against his former team after being traded to the Pelicans this offseason, but struggled on his return, scoring just seven points.
The depleted Pelicans (4-18) have lost nine in a row overall, and 11 of 12 on the road this season, with head coach Green saying his players are frustrated by their form.
"They're competitors, and they do feel that pressure," Green said. "They walk into every arena believing they have a chance to win and that's what we want.
"We want guys that have a good game plan and discipline and to go out and fall in love with the competition of the game.
"It's there, but there's frustration and there is supposed to be when you're losing games. You want to do everything you can to help your team win."
New Orleans played Monday's game without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, both nursing lower-body injuries, but did start strongly, leading 28-26 after the first quarter.
The Pelicans' point total matched the number they scored in the entire first half on Sunday in a 118-85 defeat against the New York Knicks.
However, Green said their impressive start mattered little after throwing away their advantage, bemoaning his side's inability to keep a consistent level throughout the game.
"I give our guys credit," Green said. "They went out with the right intentions, played hard, competed their tails off.
"But once again just coming up short and not being able to finish four quarters and finish the game with a win."
The Pelicans return home on Thursday night to face the Phoenix Suns.
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said it "may not be in the best interests" of LeBron James to feature in all 82 games this season after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers have now lost five of their last seven games after winning six in a row, the latest defeat coming on Monday in a 109-80 thrashing against the Timberwolves.
And four-time MVP James, who turns 40 this month, endured a difficult outing, missing 12 of 16 shots while managing a season-low of just 10 points in 31 minutes.
James also registered more turnovers (six) than assists (four) in the defeat, as the Lakers scored their fewest points since a 122-73 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in January 2017.
After James made it clear that he wanted to play all 82 games earlier this season, coach Redick said he was unsure whether that goal was sustainable.
"We are measuring the players, and we can tell when a guy is running hot. He does a remarkable job of taking care of his body and recovering," Redick said.
"But I don't know if it's in the best interests of him or us if he does that. But if he's feeling well and good, he should play. But obviously, we want to manage that the best we can."
"I've not seen us play the way we played earlier in the year," Redick added. "I mean, I've got to spend all day tomorrow with my staff trying to figure out how we get back to that."
James played in his 1,800th game on Monday between the regular season and playoffs combined, the most all-time by any player, ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,797).
Despite reaching that landmark, he did not commit either way to continuing to suit up in every game this season amid his recent run of form.
"It's everything," James said when asked what is frustrating him about his game at the moment. "It's the rhythm. I just felt off rhythm the last few, three or four games."
When asked what he would lean on to get his shot back, James replied: "Work. Just work. That's all."
Anthony Davis also had a season low against Minnesota, totalling just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and five assists.
"We got to get back into our spacing," Davis said. "We are kind of on top of each other when guys are trying to drive.
"When guys are in their spots for shooting, there's a guy right under them. So the spacing is bad."
With one quarter of the regular season completed, the Lakers are 12-9, sitting eighth in the Western Conference with the Miami Heat up next.
Redick labelled his side's season as "inconsistent" so far, with Davies more pointed in his critiques of his team-mates.
"Sometimes we look like a team that can compete with anyone, and sometimes we look like a team that looks terrible and is not going to do anything this season," he said.
"So we have just got to figure out what team we want to be for the rest of the season.
"I think we had games where we were phenomenal, and we had games where we were disgusting, like tonight."
NBA: Timberwolves rout Lakers, Celtics bounce back
Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds while anchoring a superb defensive effort that carried the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 109-80 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Minnesota earned its second straight win following a season-high four-game losing streak by holding the Lakers to their lowest single-game point total in nearly eight years and keeping their two biggest stars squarely in check. LeBron James missed 12 of 16 shots while managing a season-low 10 points in 31 minutes, while Anthony Davis was limited to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The 80 total points was the Lakers' fewest in a game since a 122-73 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 22, 2017.
Though the Timberwolves got only eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from top scorer Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle put up 18 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid scored 15 each off the bench.
Minnesota held a slim 22-20 edge after one quarter before beginning to pull away in the second. A 12-3 run early in the period increased the lead to 37-27 and the Timberwolves went ahead by as many as 17 points before heading into half-time with a 56-44 advantage.
The Timberwolves took a 79-64 lead into the fourth quarter and dominated the cold-shooting Lakers in the final period, holding Los Angeles to just 16 points over the final 12 minutes while increasing the margin to 29 points by the final whistle.
Celtics return to winning ways by rolling past Heat
Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Payton Pritchard added 25 off the bench as the Boston Celtics quickly got back on track by cruising to a 108-89 win over the Miami Heat.
After having a seven-game winning streak snapped with Sunday's loss to the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston bounced back despite resting four key regulars in Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Sam Hauser on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Celtics did get both Brown and Derrick White back after both sat out Sunday's defeat, with White finishing with 19 points and eight assists. Jayson Tatum chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which never trailed after taking a 28-25 lead after one quarter on Tatum's 3-pointer shortly before the buzzer.
Miami shot just 22.9 per cent from 3-point range and 35.6 per cent overall while playing without six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler due to a knee injury. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez led the Heat with 19 points, with Jaquez collecting 10 rebounds in Miami's second straight loss.
After Tatum's shot put the Celtics ahead after one quarter, Boston outscored Miami 32-20 in the second to build a 60-45 advantage at half-time. Pritchard had 11 points for the period and Brown contributed 10.
Boston padded its lead to 85-63 entering the fourth quarter and was up by as many as 27 points in the fourth.
Bulls blow out Nets behind Giddey's triple-double
Josh Giddey compiled a 20-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist triple-double and led a dominant second-half performance that carried the Chicago Bulls to a 128-102 victory over the scuffling Brooklyn Nets.
Giddey secured his first triple-double of the season with 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists after half-time as Chicago outscored Brooklyn 72-52 over the final two quarters to pull away and send the Nets to a third consecutive loss.
The Bulls received several other notable efforts in ending a two-game losing streak. Nikola Vucevic recorded 21 points and 10 rebounds, rookie Matas Buzelis scored a season-high 20 points off the bench and Zach LaVine finished with 18 points in just 26 minutes.
Brooklyn was over-matched in the second half of a game in which it played without two of its three top scorers, Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson. Dariq Whitehead led the Nets with a career-high 18 points while going 6 of 10 from 3-point range, while Dennis Schroder registered 16 points and 10 assists.
Up just 56-50 at half-time, the Bulls began putting the game out of reach with a big third quarter in which they shot 14 of 21 from the field.
Vucevic scored seven points during Chicago's 9-2 run to open the second half, and the lead eventually reached 20 points when LaVine followed a 3-pointer with a layup that extended the Bulls' advantage to 80-60 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Nets never threatened from there, as Chicago's lead swelled to as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.
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