The Philadelphia 76ers finally dealt Ben Simmons at the trade deadline to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden. The Sixers sent Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks to the Nets, while Brooklyn also sent Paul Millsap to Philadelphia. Although, the Sixers have filled the void that Ben Simmons has been leaving all season, does adding James Harden push them to win an NBA championship?
In the three games James Harden has suited up for the Sixers, he’s been balling averaging 27.3 points, 12.3 assists, and 9.0 rebounds. It looks like Harden is gelling with his new team and isn’t forcing anything so far. Joel Embiid praised Harden on his playmaking ability in his Sixers’ debut, saying, “That was probably the most wide open I’ve been in my career.”
It’s a good sign that Philadelphia’s franchise player in Embiid is already enjoying playing with Harden and they’ve had three solid wins together. However, I still have my concerns as to if this team can win a championship:
JAMES HARDEN UNDERPERFORMS IN ELIMINATION GAMES
James Harden is a very talented player and since he’s left the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2012, he’s been one of the top players in the league winning the NBA MVP award in the 2017-18 season. However, he’s been underwhelming in elimination games in the playoffs when his team needed him the most.
Throughout Harden’s career, he’s appeared in 21 elimination games and in 10 of those games, he’s shot below 40% from the field. A big reason Harden struggles from the field is that he doesn’t take high-percentage shots with a lot of isolation and stepback threes. In the playoffs, it’s crucial for teams to have a good shot-selection because you can’t buy back possessions.
Also, Harden relies on getting to the free-throw line to score a good chunk of his points and the referees allow defenders to be more physical in the postseason. In the eastern conference, there’s plenty of wing defenders than can cause Harden to work harder to score, such as Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Khris Middleton, and even Ben Simmons.
JOEL EMBIID LOSES HIS MOTOR
Joel Embiid has been fun to watch this season during his MVP run putting up 29.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per contest. Embiid has put the Sixers on his back in Ben Simmons’ absence and currently they are 38-23 on the season and third in the eastern conference. One has to question, when will Embiid run out of gas?
In the second half of seasons, Embiid’s motor doesn’t run as effectively as it did in the first half. He looks fatigued towards the end of games, he settles for outside shots, and he doesn’t seem laser-focused during games. We saw this in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in 2019 against the Toronto Raptors where he was injured, sick, and he even cried after Game 7 when Kawhi Leonard hit the most suspenseful shot in NBA history.
Embiid usually slows down towards the end of seasons and in moments in the playoffs and the Sixers can’t afford him to not be at full strength.
DOC RIVERS HAS HAD TROUBLE CLOSING SERIES
Doc Rivers won an NBA championship during his stint with the Boston Celtics in 2008. Rivers hasn’t made a finals appearance since 2009 where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, he’s coached for the Los Angeles Clippers and currently the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2015, Doc Rivers and the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Houston Rockets with a team lead by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. In 2020, with a Clippers team with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George they lost in the bubble to the Denver Nuggets. Both Clippers’ rosters were very talented and deep but they collapsed being one win away from advancing to the next round.
With Philadelphia, Rivers has two of the top 10 players in the NBA with Joel Embiid and James Harden. Recent history says that even with the more talented roster, Rivers has had trouble rallying his team to close out some series.
I’m not confident that the Sixers can win a championship given their track record unless another team has a key injury.
Photo credits: Sixers Wire, CNN, 6ABC