When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets before the NBA trade deadline, they knew there would need to be some sacrifices made by players to make things work. Everyone will have to buy in if they want to achieve their goal of winning an NBA Championship.
The relationship between Harden and Joel Embiid, who is in the running for MVP this season, is one that people are focusing the most on. But, given how talented each of them is, they will still get their stats regardless of the circumstances. It is the supporting cast that may have the hardest time adjusting.
It is a very small sample size of just two games, but thus far, Tyrese Maxey has taken well to his new role. He is playing off the ball more with Harden handling playmaking duties and the results have been excellent.
Maxey is most comfortable as a scorer and he has been doing it efficiently since James Harden arrived. He could actually play better as a shooting guard as it is the role he has played the most in his basketball career. Before this season, he had never been a point guard.
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The one player who is struggling to find his niche thus far is Tobias Harris. Again, the sample size with Harden in the lineup is small, but it isn’t very encouraging thus far. His scoring opportunities were going to decrease, but with Maxey emerging, Harris looks like he could turn into a fourth option before it’s all said and done.
Given his current contract, the Philadelphia 76ers cannot afford to pay him the money he is owed to fill that role. As a result, there are already executives around the league who are monitoring the situation to see if a trade opportunity presents itself.
“Rival NBA executives are reportedly “already speculating” about potential trade offers for Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris during the offseason.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday on The Hoop Collective podcast that there are questions about “how Tobias fits in” following the blockbuster deal for James Harden and whether he could be moved in order for the Sixers to upgrade other areas of their roster over the summer.”
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The 76ers held some trade discussions before the deadline that included Harris, as they were attempting to include him in Ben Simmons negotiations. His reduced role is something he isn’t performing well in thus far, as he is struggling to get into a rhythm.
If he is not scoring the ball for the Philadelphia 76ers, then he is a net negative for the team as his defensive impact has waned this season as well. Harris’s -2.6 defensive RAPTOR is ranked 234th out of 251 qualifying players. Some names within that range are Russell Westbrook, Trae Young and De’Aaron Fox, all players who are notoriously poor defenders.
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Tobias Harris is entrenched as the starting power forward for the remainder of the season and will have 22 more regular-season games to figure things out. If he continues to struggle and cannot find a role that suits him throughout the remainder of the season, there is a real possibility the team will attempt to trade him come the offseason.
