On Thursday, James Harden notified the Philadelphia 76ers that he’d be foregoing free agency and picking up the $35.6 million player option on his contract for the 2023-2024 season instead. But he wasn’t doing so because he wanted to remain in Philadelphia. He informed the Sixers, according to a source familiar with the events, that he wanted to be traded.  Why he’s asked out of Philadelphia is unclear. For more than two years now, Harden’s stated motives have been a contradictory mess. First, he forced the Rockets to trade him in the middle of the 2020-2021 season. Then, on the…