Not long ago, the Nets and the 76ers reached a blockbuster deal, James Harden and Ben Simmons, the two All-Star backcourt exchanges, but compared to Simmons, who has not had any improvement in the 76ers offense in recent years, the offensive organization has a shoulder pick, and Harden, who can average 25 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists in his career, is an important reinforcement for the 76ers, but because of the hamstring, Harden has not yet made his debut to join the new owner.
Although he did not play, Harden has established a certain prestige on this new team. Recently, 76ers player George Niang talked about Harden's situation in an interview: "I am very happy that I can play with Harden, because during my time with the Jazz, he seems to be able to eliminate us in the playoffs every season. The 28-year-old Niang, who played for the Jazz for 17-20 years, was the main rotation of the Jazz's bench at the time, and Niang also went through the only three playoffs of his career with the team, the 18-19 season, that is, the second year of Niang's playing for the Jazz, when the Jazz lost 1-4 to the Rockets in the first round, and in the previous season, the Rockets also eliminated the Jazz in the playoffs, but At that time, Niang did not get playing time in the playoffs.
This season, Niang chose to leave Utah, with a 2-year 6.77 million contract to join the 76ers, with his own defense and precision outside, Niang also won the heavy use of coach Dogriffers, as of now, Niang can average in the 76ers to deliver a career-best 9.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists, three-point shooting rate as high as 39.5%, this time can be with Harden who once firmly pressed himself to become a teammate, I believe Niang will also be very much looking forward to.
Due to Ben Simmons and the team completely tearing their faces, this season has not played a game for the 76ers, missing a backcourt commander who can dominate the ball, but also make the 76ers in a personal singles dilemma, as of now, Their average assists per game is only 23.2 of the 22nd in the league, although obsessed with singles, but the 76ers' tactical literacy is still very high, averaging 12.5 turnovers per game is only the second lowest in the league, this time can be helped by harden such a passing master, not only the core embiid of the interior, other role players such as Milton, Niang, Kolkmaz and other role players will also get more comfortable offensive opportunities, I believe that after Harden officially put on the 76ers shirt, the 76ers will be more competitive.
Since the 16-17 season to improve his assists to a career-best 11.2, Harden has been a typical representative of the league's top two-man guard in recent years, and during the last two seasons of playing for the Nets, Harden's average assists per game have reached double digits (10.9 last season, 10.2 this season), compared to Simmons, Harden's passing ability seems to be more powerful, of course, the 76ers pay more attention to Harden's offensive ability, since the 11-12 season, Harden has never averaged less than 20 points per game in the 11 years +, the 18-19 season can be a terrible average of 36.1 points per game, this time to get rid of the shackles of the previous Nets, master the absolute ball, I believe Harden also has a chance to usher in another peak of his career in Philadelphia.
Entering the playoffs as the top of the Eastern Conference last season, but stopping in the semifinals, after welcoming the "OK combination" of Harden + Embiid this time, how far can the 76ers go this season? Let's wait and see.