There are three really good reasons why the Philadelphia 76ers shouldn’t trade Ben Simmons for James Harden.
It was recently reported that the Philadelphia 76ers were willing to included star playmaker Ben Simmons in a deal for superstar James Harden. Sixers’ president of basketball operations Daryl Morey quickly dispelled that notion, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Still, the rumor is out there now and while it appears to be false, it brings up an interesting debate. Until Harden is traded from Houston, 76ers fans will continue to debate whether trading Simmons for Harden is the best choice for the franchise.
I’m of the opinion that Philly shouldn’t deal for Simmons for Harden. I briefly wrote about it in the past and I even came up with an alternative trade package from the Sixers that didn’t involve Simmons. With that being said, there are three clear reasons why the 76ers shouldn’t trade Simmons for Harden.
3 reasons not to trade Simmons for Harden: Simmons’ upside can’t be ignored
Right now, Ben Simmons is somewhere between a top-15 or top-20 player in the NBA. He can literally do just about do everything on the court at a high level. He can defend, pass, rebound, and finish at an elite level, but people still harp on the one thing he won’t do, which is shooting the ball.
It’s not that he can’t shoot, he’s proven when he wants to, he can make outside shots. It’s an unwillingness to take outside jumpers. That unwillingness to shoot the ball keeps the All-Defensive team player from becoming a top-5 player in the NBA.
Simmons is still only 24-years-old and has a long time to get over this mental hurdle. Assuming he can eventually, he has the potential to become the face of the NBA for years to come. Obviously, that’s only a what-if scenario, so let’s deal with the known variables.
Simmons is much younger than Harden, by seven years to be exact. At 31-years-old, Harden has played 833 regular season games and 28,589 regular season minutes. Obviously, those minutes and games increase in the playoffs. Harden has played so much already in his career, there’s a good chance he starts to decline in the next two or four seasons.
There’s no fear of decline with Simmons. While Harden might open the championship window for the Sixers wider than Simmons can right now, Simmons provides Philly a much longer title contention window than Harden ever could. Giving up a player with Simmons upside just for a slightly better chance to win a title for the next two or three seasons isn’t worth it for Philly.
3 reasons not to trade Simmons for Harden: Harden’s personality and impact on culture.
When Philadelphia fired Brett Brown as their head coach this offseason, it was because of a lack of accountability in the locker room. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Harden was the epicenter of the lack of accountability in the Rockets organization. The organization gave him way too much power and freedom for years which resulted in poor culture.
It’s certainly fair that Harden had some perks of being a superstar in Houston, but the amount of power he had was unbelievable. According to the report previously mentioned, Harden had input personal decisions such as players and coaches. The only player that should have that type of power is LeBron James, who is one of the best in NBA history.
Not only that, but Harden partied a lot, which in itself isn’t horrendous, but based on what was reported it was certainly excessive to say the least. Apparently, he was late for transportation and team activities (such as film sessions). There is just a lack of professionalism that has permeated from Harden during his tenure with the Rockets.
All this happened under the watch of Morey, who was in charge of Houston before coming to Philly this offseason. If Harden comes to the 76ers, who’s to say that he wouldn’t ruin the culture of accountability that head coach Doc Rivers is trying to build. He would have a good chance of doing so with Morey there, as more has expressed his affinity for Harden in the past.
Then there’s the impact of Harden’s behaviors on Joel Embiid and the team’s young players. Embiid has struggled with accountability in the past and if he has an apathetic teammate like Harden, it wouldn’t be surprising if Embiid didn’t stay in shape or engaged if Harden were to arrive.
Harden wouldn’t be good for Philly’s culture so it might not be worth upgrading to Harden over Simmons.
3 reasons not to trade Simmons for Harden: Harden doesn’t guarantee a championship
It’s fair to say at this point that James Harden is one of the best individual scorers in NBA history. He has three scoring titles and has scored at least 30 points per game the past three seasons. Yet, pairing him with the likes of Joel Embiid wouldn’t guarantee a title for the Philadelphia 76ers.
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In all reality, it wouldn’t even guarantee that the Sixers would come out of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket. The duo of Embiid and Harden is interesting, but there’s no guarantee they would mesh well together.
Harden has already played with a future Hall of Fame center in Dwight Howard when Howard was still in his prime and didn’t accomplish much. Harden has also played with two players who are arguably better than Embiid in Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook while in Houston and still couldn’t get the job done.
It could be argued that Embiid would only be the third best player Harden played within his prime (can’t count Kevin Durant with the Oklahoma City Thunder). Despite the East being a weaker conference than the West, there are still some elite teams at the top.
The Brooklyn Nets have Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Milwaukee Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday, the Boston Celtics have Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and when healthy Kemba Walker, and the Miami Heat are the reigning champions of the East with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
The East is stronger than it has been in recent years and a combo of Harden and Embiid wouldn’t guarantee that Philly wins the conference. If not a solid belief that the Sixers are the favorites to win the East if you trade Simmons for Harden, then why do it in the first place? The simple answer is you don’t if you’re the 76ers.
There are some major downsides to consider when it comes to the Philadelphia 76ers potentially trading Simmons for Harden. As of right now, the risk doesn’t seem worth it.