Welcome James Harden!

[Murray_17]

Morey is gonna max him so the convo is pointless. The formula for the next 4-5 years is gonna be Harden + Embiid + Maxey surrounded by as many defenders as we can find/afford.

If we're gonna use that rotation Maxey needs to work on his defense on the offseason hard.

The main thing scaring me right now is teams dragging Embiid out of the paint and having a party driving thru Harden and Maxey or putting Embiid on PnR without a guy who can drive thru a screen

[Jailblazers7]

For sure, Maxey should work a ton on screen navigation & point of attack defense. He has the tools to be solid against opposing PGs if he makes it a point of development.

[Ferry Avenue]

Whether this team can advance any farther than usual in the playoffs this year will be precisely a function of whether Harden can elevate his game when needed. Anytime Joel Embiid is held to ~20 to 25 points as he has been the past two games -- and you can trust that'll be the defensive strategy for every team the Sixers face going forward -- James Harden needs to score ~25 to 30. This team isn't going to reliably receive the 50+ points it would need from Maxey and Harris with Embiid's scoring being limited and Harden playing his customary game. Harden needs to up his game and allow for a more typical output by Maxey and Harris.

[SixthStreet]

I think Harden is going to have a good scoring output in these next two games. He looks close on a lot of his stuff and I attribute it more to rust from the layoff than a lingering injury. I think he's trying to sneak the shot attempt up at the rim and I think he should use his deceleration more with the defender on his hip to go more deliberately. I think he's going to show out and give us hope for a worthy foil for the Celtics.

[76ciology]

Harden is just averaging 14ppg in the last 9 games.

[Ferry Avenue]

I think Harden is going to have a good scoring output in these next two games. He looks close on a lot of his stuff and I attribute it more to rust from the layoff than a lingering injury. I think he's trying to sneak the shot attempt up at the rim and I think he should use his deceleration more with the defender on his hip to go more deliberately. I think he's going to show out and give us hope for a worthy foil for the Celtics.

I wouldn't trust Harden to elevate his game in any significant way. Whereas you see players like Embiid (defensively) and Harris elevating their games in the playoffs, you routinely see Harden fail to do so. It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on Maxey to function as essentially one of the best players in the league, and I'm not sure he's ready to do that on a routine basis. Maxey can certainly function that way at times, but he isn't Kevin Durant/Luka Doncic caliber, players who can do that almost nightly. Harden should be the one elevating his game into virtually that territory.

[Jailblazers7]

Harden is just averaging 14ppg in the last 9 games.

He hasn’t shot more than 2 FTs in a game since 3/29 against Dallas. Bad omen that he’s having legitimate issues getting to the rim.

[Ferry Avenue]

Harden is just averaging 14ppg in the last 9 games.

He hasn’t shot more than 2 FTs in a game since 3/29 against Dallas. Bad omen that he’s having legitimate issues getting to the rim.

And he played in only six of the final 13 regular season games of the year, so whether he needed rest before the playoffs shouldn't be at issue.

[ProcessDoctor]

If we win a ring, I say we try to S&T Harden to Houston. Build around Maxey/Embiid/3rd star.

[sixers4real]

If we don’t win a ring, I say we try to S&T Harden to Houston. Build around Maxey/Embiid/3rd star.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

If we win a ring, I say we try to S&T Harden to Houston. Build around Maxey/Embiid/3rd star.

Yes! I personally don't think we're going to get to the Finals with James Harden. I don't think we're getting past Boston in the 2nd round. I think Harden does want to win, but at the end of the day, he may just want to finish his career in Houston. Who knows...The timing for these rumors really sucks.

[AI_Efficiency]

The worst thing is that we had to give up so many picks to fix the roster so we basically can’t trade a first rounder until 2029 or something. So if a star player became available and wanted to play with Joel, we wouldn’t have the assets to get them.

[HardenGoat]

It’s suspicious that this back to Houston leak is being brought up in the playoffs. Harden would never be the one leaking this as a distraction. This is where the team just needs to focus on winning because a lot of people don’t want that and will do these things as a mental attack. Trolls included.

[Jailblazers7]

Does Woj just hate the Sixers? Feels like he’s just stirring the pot at the worst possible time to f*ck with us.

[Negrodamus]

Very weird to want to finish out your final years in Houston of all places. I guess he really took to that city.

[TheBallsDeeper]

Harden activated playoff mode today.

[SixthStreet]

My opinion is all this Harden Houston stuff is just clickbait, but even if he walks we don't have 2 more years of Simmons' contract on the books. There's a credible pivot to be made, even if it takes a year to make it happen.

He looked good today.

[Sixerfever216]

I would James walk he's been good here but I rather build around Maxey and embidd and get a 3rd scorer

[JordanMars]

not convinced at all that houston wants harden back

[Wilfried]

I would James walk he's been good here but I rather build around Maxey and embidd and get a 3rd scorer

James could be that third scorer? And being an elite facilitator at the same time?