Sixers: Grading the James Harden, Ben Simmons trade
Grading the Sixers’ trade for James Harden
The Sixers managed to acquire one of the best offensive players in NBA history. That’s that. Harden has been on the decline lately, but at worst, he’s an All-NBA guard instead of a top-3 MVP candidate. Harden’s multi-layered skill set should breath new life into Philadelphia’s offense.
While there are some minor fit concerns with Harden, it’s best to bank on talent here. Harden is a gifted shooter and on-ball scorer, not to mention one of the league’s best facilitators. He doesn’t have a ton of weaknesses, even if he has spent the majority of his career in a ball-dominant role. He once thrived next to Chris Paul (another ball-dominant player), so there’s a track record for Harden coexisting with fellow superstars. Even in Brooklyn, the team was 13-3 when Harden, Durant, and Irving all played. The opportunities were limited, as injuries and unhappiness got in the way, but the Nets were dominant when Harden shared the floor with top-end talent. Embiid is top-end talent.
Harden also helps relieve Embiid of his massive offensive burden, and vice versa. If there’s any knock on Embiid and Harden as a duo, it’s the durability concern. Embiid no longer has to do everything for Philadelphia’s offense. Harden takes a load off his shoulders, and ideally, Harden can adjust to something of an equal partnership with Embiid. The less both have to exert — and we can’t forget Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris — the better for long-term preservation.
From the very beginning, the Embiid era has been marred by a lack of competent halfcourt creators. Now, the Sixers have both Harden and Maxey to set up the offense and put pressure on the rim. It’s fair to wonder how Maxey will adjust to a diminished role in Harden’s shadow, but my long-view concerns are minimal. Maxey is a selfless and hard-working player who has adjusted and expanded his game at every opportunity. He should figure it out.
The Embiid-Harden two man game figures to be one of the most potent in all of basketball. Embiid is already a dominant pick-and-pop big, and he has slowly begun to do more scoring as a roll man and off-ball threat this season. Harden is the best pick-and-roll guard on the planet when he’s rolling, and there’s reason to believe he can help Maxey learn the tricks of the trade. Also, the sheer volume of free throws between Embiid and Harden is bound to leave opponents shuttering with rage.
When you can set up your team with the most talented one-two punch in the NBA, you do it. There’s no team with a better one-two punch than Embiid and Harden, and Morey didn’t have to gut the roster to make it happen. He kept his young standouts (Maxey, Thybulle), and there’s never been a more appropriate setting for Tobias Harris’ skill set if he can buy into making quick decisions, taking 3s, and rolling hard to the basket.
Final grade: A