Sixers: 3 reasons James Harden makes them title contenders

2. Sixers replace Ben Simmons’ playmaking ability with James Harden

When Ben Simmons decided to hold out this year, there was an apparent void in the playmaking department. Even though Simmons has had a pension for not shooting jump shots, his passing vision and ability to set up teammates was something not even his biggest haters could deny.

While Tyrese Maxey and even Joel Embiid have stepped up in the playmaking department, it has not been enough to compensate. There is a reason why the Sixers currently rank 21st in assists per field goals made; they didn’t have a legit playmaker to facilitate the offense.

With James Harden coming in, he now replaces that lost playmaking and even improves upon it. Since the 2016-17 season, Harden has averaged 9.2 assists per game with three seasons of double-digit assist numbers while Simmons for his career has only averaged 7.7 assists per game.

But playmaking isn’t all about assist numbers; scoring gravity is also a vital aspect. The impact Harden’s scoring ability brings will open up the floor for everyone. This is the true difference between the playmaking Simmons brought and the playmaking Harden will bring. Simmons may be on par passing wise with Harden, but Harden’s scoring ability forces defenders either to defend him aggressively (potentially leaving a shooter open) or give him a free scoring lane. For Simmons, opposing defenses never had to worry about that.

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I previously mentioned how the pick-and-roll game has been a big part of Harden’s scoring ability, but that isn’t even his biggest impact as a pick-and-roll ball handler. As dangerous as Harden is in scoring off the pick-and-roll, he’s even more of a threat finding the rolling big man.

Harden has made life very easy for his big men. His scoring ability has forced defenders to play him aggressively in the pick and roll. Whether defenders fight over the screen, switch or straight up double team Harden, there’s a good chance the roll man will be open for a look.

LaMarcus Aldridge has benefitted from having Harden as a point guard this season. Aldridge currently ranks second in the NBA in possessions per game as a roll man with 4.5 possessions per game. He’s scoring nearly 60 percent on the screens he sets while also shooting 59 percent from the field.

It will be an adjustment for Joel Embiid though. Despite his natural scoring ability and overall dominance, he has never been known as a screen setter. I’ve already mentioned that the Sixers don’t run many pick-and-rolls. Even with Maxey and Seth Curry facilitating the pick-and-roll instead of Simmons, Embiid still ranks outside the top 10 in pick-and-rolls set this season.

Once that Embiid-Harden connection starts clicking, Embiid is going to be getting some very easy looks and potentially even catch some lobs.