Not long ago, the Nets and the 76ers reached a blockbuster deal, Harden left Brooklyn for 1 and a half years, so as to start a new chapter in his career in Philadelphia, and earlier, Harden also trained with the team, but because it is still in the recuperation stage of hamstring strain, the 76ers official media also made it clear that Harden will not usher in the opportunity to play after the end of The All-Star Weekend, so fans who want to see Deng's debut in the 76ers may have to wait for a while.
According to NBA reporter Tom Moore, after the end of today's 76ers training, Harden also praised the performance of the team's second-year student Maxi, who contributed 2 dunks in training, which impressed Harden very much, and not long ago Maxi was also very happy about Harden's arrival, saying in an interview: "It's really crazy, when I was a child, Harden was one of the players I used often when playing 2K games." In fact, when the Nets and the 76ers were discussing a deal, the Nets once wanted to ask the 76ers for two potential new stars, Maxi and Sable, but the 76ers, who had been unwilling to compromise, finally managed to leave these two young men in Philadelphia, packed Curry Jr., Zhuang Shen and Simmons together, and sent them to the Nets.
As the 76ers picked up the first round of the 21st pick in the 2020 draft, Maxi also played a good performance last season, averaging 8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2 assists in only 15.3 minutes of playing time, and when the team fell into a serious injury wave last season, Maxi was in danger, and in the case of the first start of his career, he cut a career-high 39 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, leaving a great impression on everyone. However, due to Simmons sitting in the core of the team's backcourt at that time, Maxi did not get too many opportunities to show.
However, in this season Simmons refused to play for the 76ers, coach Rivers also simply put Maxy directly on the starting position, in the case of playing time soared to 35.6 minutes, Maxie also handed over a career-best 17 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists, the three shooting rates were 47.5%, 39.9% and 86%, his outbreak, but also let Philadelphia fans completely forget the existence of Simmons. And this time The successful ascension of Maxi can not help but make people start to look forward to the combination of Maxi + Harden' backcourt, what kind of spark can be rubbed?
Maxi, who wears the No. 0 jersey, plus Harden, who changed his jersey number to No. 1, this "0+1" combination also determines to a certain extent how fierce the 76ers' backcourt firepower is? The hard training in the offseason has made Maxi's projection have greatly improved this season, as long as he can grasp the opportunity of the outside basket that should be hit, Harden will also be able to fully exert his top passing ability. During his time with the Nets this season, Harden can also deliver 10.2 assists while maintaining an average of 22.5 points per game, and his keen passing sense can not only make Embiid eat cake on the inside line, but also benefit the 76ers outside the group of shooters.
In the case that the 76ers have made it clear that Maxie is not a product of the team, I believe that Rivers will continue to entrust him with heavy responsibilities in the next game, with Harden to give him the ball, I believe that Maxie can continue to maintain a stable output, as for the league's top two-legged guard, which is already a set of attack and organization, the degree of Harden's integration into the team depends on whether he can heal his hamstring injury.