Philadelphia 76ers: Despite quick start, James Harden is next step

The Philadelphia 76ers look great, but trading for James Harden remains the best possible next step.

The James Harden trade rumors are not an affront to Ben Simmons. No sensible pro-Harden argument is built around the defamation of Simmons, who is one of the 20 best players in the sport. It is built around the undeniable specialness of James Harden, a perennial MVP candidate and, to quote Daryl Morey, possibly the “greatest offensive player of all time.”

Very few players touch the game in as many ways as Harden. Very few players can individually shred a defense like Harden. He is already off to a league-best start, averaging 37.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 11.0 assists in his first three games of the new season. For most players, such numbers predate an inevitable regression to the mean. For Harden, that is the mean.

Harden may not be, as Morey suggests, the best offensive player of all time. He’s up there, though. He’s in the same pool as Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James. He can score it as well as anyone in the league, and he is equally gifted at creating for others. Harden is undeservedly labeled a ball-hog by some, when in fact he manipulates and exploits defenses better than any other star — often to the benefit of teammates, who spring loose for open 3s and find dump-offs cleanly delivered at the rim.

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The Sixers are built to win games in the regular season and have a puncher’s chance in the playoffs. Joel Embiid is playing at an MVP level, Ben Simmons continues to do Ben Simmons things, and Tobias Harris looks better than ever. It’s still early, but there’s no denying the positive early signs with this team.

Even so, Philadelphia is by no means a favorite in the East. Milwaukee, Brooklyn, and possibly even Miami, all occupy a higher tier. The Sixers still lack a reliable closer. Joel Embiid is still too predictable — even if his passing continues to improve. In the postseason, with Simmons’ inability to shoot and Shake Milton the best from-scratch creator, defenses will have no trouble tuning in to Embiid’s every move. Embiid is elite, but with such a one-dimensionally constructed roster, he can only carry Philadelphia so far.

This isn’t the Sixers team of two years ago, when Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were centerpieces of a well-constructed team with infinite cap flexibility. Morey has returned the roster to competently built form, but with Tobias Harris sucking up $36 million per season, the lack of space for needle-moving improvement — specifically the addition of a bonafide third star — is suffocating.

The Sixers no longer have room to casually add Jimmy Butler, which was the trade market equivalent of striking gold. The Sixers will not get another top-20 guy to pair with Embiid and Simmons. There is no functional way to come up with the cap space or the trade assets to make it happen.

As a result, Philadelphia should promptly jump at the opportunity to add James Harden — again, one of the most uniquely gifted players in league history — with two years on his contract and the opportunity to extend him. The Sixers can offer Harden over $50 million per season on his next deal. It is tough to imagine Harden, who has named Philadelphia as a place of interest, turning down that money at age 32.

The Sixers could luck into an unhappy camper like Victor Oladipo, but simply put, no feasible trade or free agent alternative will improve Philadelphia’s title odds more than swapping Ben Simmons for James Harden. You have to maximize the indefinite window of Embiid’s prime, and Harden does so. He gives Philadelphia a real chance in the East. He quite possibly makes them favorites.

Harden and Embiid can bombard defenses inside and out — a constant force of pressure on the rim, juxtaposed with Harden’s unmatched gravity as an isolation scorer. To surround them with a game-breaking shooter in Seth Curry, as well as a litany of competent 3-and-D pieces a la Danny Green and Shake Milton, would make Philadelphia a hard team to stop. Any defense with Joel Embiid is good. The Sixers would lead the league in fouls down and efficiency, and probably be even sexier to watch. There are risks inherent in any trade, but it’s James freakin’ Harden. Do not overthink it.

Morey should be on the phone after every Sixers win offering Ben Simmons for James Harden. The Rockets will not get a better offer, and frankly, this is the most exciting window of opportunity since Philadelphia let Butler slip through their fingers. I can also guarantee no one of Harden’s caliber, with such a favorable contract situation, will become available in Embiid’s prime. Embiid can also leave in 2023.

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The NBA is a cutthroat business. Sixer fans have invested a lot of time and energy in Ben Simmons, who continues to electrify offenses and cement his status as a top-tier two-way player. Even so, you give him up for James Harden any day of the week. There are maybe three or four players you can say that for, and Harden is one of them.