The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, consistently being among the best teams in the Eastern Conference. But they were dead set on acquiring an All-Star to pair with him and before the deadline, they pulled off a blockbuster trade to accomplish that.
The 76ers acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets, along with Paul Millsap, in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks. Daryl Morey had coveted Harden for a while and finally got his guy.
Both teams come away from messy situations feeling good. The Nets didn’t want to get left out to dry with Harden leaving in free agency over the summer and the 76ers have been shopping Simmons for months. Both are now in situations they feel they can thrive in.
When it comes to Harden and the 76ers, some concessions will need to be made. But, he is confident that things will work out and that he and Joel Embiid can coexist with each other.
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“I think we complement each other,” Harden said early in his news conference on Feb. 15. “Obviously, the whole world knows how great Joel has been playing.”
Both James Harden and Joel Embiid are used to having the ball in their hands. They are ball-dominant players, as Harden touches the ball on almost every possession as the lead guard. Embiid has the highest usage rate in the NBA for the second consecutive season despite rarely bringing the ball up the court.
Doc Rivers will have to come up with game plans that highlight each of their strengths, but they have to put in the effort and be able to adapt as well. Joel Embiid acknowledged that he will have to set more screens as it is something Harden excels playing in.
“I’ve got to become more of a pick-and-roll player or pick-and-pop just to help my teammates and help him,” Embiid said last week. “[Harden is] more of an off-the-dribble 3-point shooter, but I get doubled a lot. To be able to go against those double teams, you’ve got to be able to fire up 3s off-the-catch.”
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Spotting up for catch-and-shoot 3-pointers is not something that Harden has done often this season. He has 102 3-pointers made, but only 12 have come from catch-and-shoot situations. That is a staple of the 76ers offense as Embiid is a willing passer when the double teams come.
But, at the end of the day, it will take sacrifice from the entire team to reach their goal of winning a title. As Joel Embiid pointed out, the most successful teams are the ones that keep the ball moving offensively.
“As you look at the teams that have won in the past, whether you look at the Golden State [Warriors] teams, even the [Los Angeles] Lakers and Milwaukee [Bucks] last year, they just move the ball,” he said.
“[Harden is] probably up there as far as the best playmakers out of the pick-and-roll, so obviously you got to add that even more to our offense.”
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James Harden is certainly a willing playmaker and will help elevate the performance of the players around him. But, there will certainly have to be some adjustments made, as there is only one ball to be shared among plenty of players that can get the job done offensively.
