Philadelphia 76ers: James Harden has to evolve his game

Harden has to evolve his game: The solutions

The first is that Harden has to be willing to do more off the ball. There have been too many times where he’s just standing in one spot when the ball isn’t in his hands. If he becomes more willing to come off screens or starts doing more dribble hand-offs, he should be able to get easier looks from the field. The Sixers have Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid who can create for Harden, he needs to let them help him get easier looks moving forward.

Another one is he has to stop foul hunting. Drawing fouls has been one of the ways he’s become of the most dominant offensive players in the NBA but in the grand scheme of things, it won’t help his durability issues that are starting to creep up. It also doesn’t help that the referees are letting players be more physical now.

This is the most important of the three changes is that Harden needs to shift his mentality from score first to pass first. Don’t be mistaken, Harden has shown elite playmaking skills in the past. He’s led the league in assists back in the 2016-17 season and has multiple double-digit assist seasons.

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Outside of his stint with the Brooklyn Nets and his early years with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Harden has more weapons on offense now than at any other point in his career. Getting Embiid, Maxey, and Tobias Harris easy looks should be his number one priority with his scoring coming secondary. He’s done it for spurts in the past, but it needs to come more consistent because if he makes the defense respect them, it will open up easier shots for him.

In short, Harden has to change if he wants to prolong his All-Star status and his career with the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s a clear path to doing that as well but now it’s up to him if he can make those changes.