Speaking of the biggest move at the end of the season, there is no doubt that the Philadelphia 76ers took Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two first-round picks as the main body, and exchanged three-time scoring champion james Harden from the Nets and former regular season MVP award winner. Although he has not yet played after joining the 76ers, the outside world still believes that the arrival of Harden will make the overall strength of the 76ers go up to a higher level, and the team has the opportunity to return to the ranks of the championship group.
We all know that Harden has passed the age, compared with former teammate Kevin Durant and fellow student Stephen Curry, Harden's biggest gap is that he has never been able to win the championship, which is what he focuses on. After all, if Harden pursues core absolute status and money and other elements, it is good to stay in the Rockets, it can be said that it has everything. But harden's career twilight pursuit is only to win the championship as a core member, the Rockets' competitiveness continues to decline, and the Nets simply can't give him the most basic respect, which leads to Harden's continuous departure, and the Philadelphia 76ers are the team that understands and needs him the most.
Harden's personal ability is naturally impeccable, but in the late stages of the Rockets' play, the team's second boss is Point Guards such as Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, and the ball will inevitably clash. After switching to the Nets, the paper lineup looks like the Nets have the big three of James Harden, Kelly Irving and Kevin Durant, but they are all outside players, and the defense is not too good, so it can't actually maximize the power of the lineup.
But now the 76ers are different, this lineup is very suitable for Harden to play, he can also give full play to the value of the teammates around him. The biggest difference between the 76ers and the Nets and Rockets is that they have super center Joel Embiid, who was also one of the big hits for the MVP awards before Harden arrived this season. In the 76ers' two-day back-to-back trip, Embiid scored four sides, against the Thunder he scored 25 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks, of course, you can also say that the other side is a fish belly, this data is not too convincing. But back-to-back against rival Cleveland Cavaliers, Embiid blasted a triple-double of 40 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and sent three blocks to single-handedly destroy the opposing twins Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Since Howard, Harden has finally been able to pair with top centers again, and since Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in the early 2000s, this is probably the most terrifying combination of one inside and one outside gems.
Originally, even if Embiid was in a brave state, whether it was Tobias Harris or the young player Teres Maxi, it was less interesting to be the second boss. But after Harden joined, the problem no longer existed, and they only needed to be three and four leaders respectively. Tobias Harris is certainly relatively average among top-paid players, but this season he has averaged 18.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, and his shooting rate has reached nearly 50%. While Tobias Harris' regular stats may slip slightly after Harden joins, efficiency should go up a level.
The same is true of Teres Maxi, who, as the 2020 first-round No. 21 rookie, was appointed as the 76ers starting point guard this season without Simmons playing. So far this season, he can average 17 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, although he is still relatively young, but Maxi has become a high-quality starter, he is a bit like a strengthened version of Patrick Beverley, in Harden's side only need to do a good job of catching shots and defense.
From the end of the Rockets, Harden is the league's top ball-holding core, with such star players in the squad, it is very easy to build a team around him, not to mention that the 76ers management has worked with Harden in the past with the Rockets. At present, this team, the above-mentioned Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Teres Maxi, not only can attack with the ball themselves, but also have a stable projection threat. In addition to these players, Danny Green and George Lyon also have higher three-point shooting rates than the league average, which allows the coaching staff to send five superb projection players, and opponents can make it more difficult to limit them.
Finally, we all know that one of the things that Harden has been criticized for since he entered the league is that he has been more average on the defensive end. In fact, Harden has changed a bit in recent years, just because he is too heavy to keep up with those dexterous guards. But in the 76ers, Harden's defensive problems will be compensated, which is naturally deeply felt by Seth Curry, who has been sent away. The 76ers will let Joel Embiid crouch under the basket, while the outside line has a large number of sappers who can change multiple positions, of which the youngster Sable is the top defensive expert among the new generation of players. In this case, Harden can fully focus on the offensive end, defensively more people to help him make up the position, and after completing this operation, the 76ers can be said to be like a tiger, although now "only" in the East, but the 76ers are only 2.5 games away from the Miami Heat at the top of the table. With the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks in front of them, they simply missed half-court goals, and it should not be surprising if the 76ers came later in the season and became a strong contender for the Eastern Conference championship.