NFL
By: Melo Williams
The Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden experience is officially a wrap. James Harden demanded a trade in the summer, called Daryl Morey a liar saying he didn’t keep his word, and there was no coming back from it, and he wanted to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Like myself, most people were sleeping in the early morning hours of Halloween when the Woj bomb was dropped announcing Harden was being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
James Harden got his wishes once again after demanding a trade for the third time in his career and the former MVP and 10x NBA All-Star was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers as he asked.
Philadelphia sent James Harden, PJ Tucker, and Filip Petrusev to the Los Angeles Clippers in return for Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, two first-round picks, and several second-round draft picks from the Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Usually when trades are labeled as “blockbuster” it’s more than one blockbuster superstar name of a player who’s involved. However this wasn’t the case with this trade, but it was still a blockbuster for Philly because Daryl Morey was able to use James Harden’s name as premium value.
In return, Philly has veteran skilled players who can step in right away and help superstar MVP Joell Embiid and rising talent Tyrese Maxey who has shown consistently that he can hold his own on both ends of the court and be depended on as a 2nd and 3rd option.
Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington all bring the ability to shoot the three and defend. With the shooting abilities of Morris, Batum, and Covington that will relieve a lot of pressure off Tobias Harris.
Though not a skill, those three players also bring length which is key on the defensive end to help take some of the pressure off of Joell Embiid who is an elite defender himself.
The other key factor that’s a huge plus in this trade for Philly is that Morris, Batum, and Covington are all on expiring contracts and will be unrestricted free agents in 2024 which will keep the 76ers between $50-70 million dollars in projected cap space. Morey does plan on using the 2 first-round picks in a package deal in hopes of returning a guard to pair with Tyrese Maxey in the backcourt.
Before the Harden trade, rumors started circulating that Joel Embiid may want out of Philly himself and that the New York Knicks are his preferred destination.
I believe somewhat the rumor that Embiid may want out of Philly has some validity to it. After Philly lost to Boston in the playoffs last season before James Harden demanded a trade, rumors came out that Embiid was frustrated and might demand a trade.
After Philly lost to Boston in the playoffs, I said on Team NBS Media NBA Show on former Twitter Spaces that I could see Joell Embiid wanting out of Philly because of frustrations, letdowns, and controversy.
With that being said though, the reigning MVP had to look at himself first for not closing out the series against Boston being up three games to two in a best-of-seven series, in the same year he won his first NBA MVP award, winning over 2x NBA MVP Nikola Jokic who eventually led the Denver Nuggets to it’s first ever NBA Championship and earning Finals MVP.
In closing, we’re one week into the 2023-2024 NBA season, and with me having no emotional attachment to the Philadelphia 76ers on any level, I feel like Daryl Morey has done a good job weathering the storms in Philadelphia as the GM bringing stability.
NBA Champion Nick Nurse is the head coach, there are no Ben Simmons and James Harden controversies which led to an exhausting daily media circus preventing 100% focus on basketball, and the roster currently constructed is probably the best it’s been with multiple future first and second-round draft picks to strengthen the roster via the NBA Draft and free agency.
I don’t believe this season is championship or bust for Philadelphia, but it appears more realistic this season than it has in recent years. However, it all starts with the play and leadership of superstar Joell Embiid.
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