For the second time in just over a year, James Harden wanted a change of scenery. During the 2020-21 NBA season, Harden forced his way off of the Houston Rockets. He was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets, who had a dominant Big 3 in Kevin Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving.
Unfortunately, the trio barely had the time of day to mesh and play together. Things quickly soured, as they played only 16 games together and Harden wanted to move on again. It went down to the wire, but he eventually got his wish and landed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia is where Harden admitted he always wanted to be. When he first asked for a trade from the Rockets, he was hoping to land with the 76ers, but things didn’t pan out. Now that he has finally landed with the team he wanted to be on, can we expect Harden to bring it every night?
We will have to wait and see, as Harden will remain sidelined through the All-Star break with a balky hamstring. Once he is healthy enough to get on the court, the 76ers will be deploying one of the best duos in the NBA with Harden joining Joel Embiid.
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Harden is excited to get started and was complimentary of Embiid during his press conference. The fit on the court and with the organization, as a whole, Harden believes is perfect for him.
“I just knew for a very long time this was a perfect fit,” Harden said. “Obviously, you got the best big man in the league in Joel [Embiid] and then obviously the coaching. Just from top to bottom, it made sense.”
Embiid has been playing at an MVP level thus far this season. His performance is a big reason that the 76ers are 35-23 on the season. The dominant big man just had his streak of 25+ point games snapped at 23 games against the Boston Celtics as very few teams have been able to slow him down.
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Adding Harden as his running mate could make Joel Embiid even more difficult to stop. He may have fewer chances with the ball in his hands, but he will certainly get cleaner looks with Harden garnering so much attention from opponents.
It will take some time to adjust to having a player such as James Harden in the mix, as players will have to sacrifice some touches. However, this was a move that should move the Philadelphia 76ers closer to being contenders for the NBA Finals as the league is star-driven and they now have two on the roster.
