James Harden Gets a Raise After Agreeing to Two-Year Extension With Clippers originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The first domino of the Los Angeles Clippers’ offseason has officially fallen.
Shortly after the team was eliminated from this year’s NBA playoffs, it was reported that their priority was to take care of James Harden’s contract situation before making any other big moves.
Now that is officially out of the way for the Clippers.
Harden entered the offseason with a player option for the 2025-26 NBA season that would have been worth $36.35 million.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Harden has decided to decline that player option and agreed to a new deal with the Clippers that will give him a nice raise.
BREAKING: 11-time NBA All-Star James Harden is declining his player option and intends to sign a new two-year, $81.5 million contract to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/qQMwkkMjMs
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2025
The new contract is worth $81.5 million over the next two seasons and carries a player option for the 2026-27 season.
If he ends up picking up the player option next year, his contract will line up with Kawhi Leonard’s, who is under contract for two more years himself.
That would keep the team’s two biggest stars on the same timeline as the Clippers attempt to keep their contention window open.
Harden is coming off of his best season since leaving the Houston Rockets at the 2021 trade deadline.
He stepped up on the offensive end for a Clippers team that struggled to score, bringing his scoring average up to 22.8 points per game after only scoring 16.6 per game during the 2023-24 season.
He also contributed 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game while seeing improvements on the defensive side of the ball.
Harden’s efforts earned him spot in the All-Star game and his first All-NBA honors since the 2019-20 season.
Now he’s secured himself a nice payday to try and lead the Clippers into the Western Conference’s upper echelon and the Clippers can shift their focus to building a contending supporting cast around him and Leonard.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.