It took right up until the trade deadline, but boy was it worth the wait. James Harden, the nine-time All-Star, three-time scoring champ, seven-time All-NBA and 2016-2017 MVP is now a Philadelphia 76er. Joel Embiid, an MVP front-runner, has by leaps and bounds the best running mate he’s ever had, and the Sixers should (on paper) be championship favorites. They got this without giving up their two brightest young assets, and with a disgruntled star that everyone said had no value. Daryl Morey was called a fool and delusional when he held Ben Simmons this whole time. “Just trade him for Buddy Hield” they said. Well, this is why Morey is the President of Basketball Operations of an NBA team and those guys aren’t, because he made out like a bandit.
The Trade
Just to have it listed here, the full trade was James Harden and Paul Millsap for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first round pick and a protected 2027 first round pick.
What Did The Sixers Get?
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James Harden is obviously the most important piece here. Millsap is the other player, but it’s not likely he sticks around in Philly for long. He hasn’t played much at all for the Nets this year, and his position at PF is unfortunately where the 76ers are probably deepest. Tobias Harris, overpaid he may be, is still a good player and he’s having a terrific February, while Georges Niang has been their most consistent bench player. Millsap isn’t tall enough to get minutes at center, and doesn’t provide the three-point shooting necessary to play the three either so he’s kind of out.
That leaves Harden as the sole prize of the trade, but what a prize he is. He’s as dynamic a scorer as there is in the league, able to score at all three levels but most importantly excels at the three most efficient shots in basketball. He can shoot threes (totally self-generated) at an absurd volume and still keep good efficiency, he can barrel his way to the hoop to hit layups, and he’s an ace at drawing fouls and converting those points. He does this all often in pure isolation, which is the most rare and valuable skill set in the NBA. Finally, the Sixers have been desperate for a playmaker since Simmons’ exile, and Harden can do that too. He’s a former assist champion after all, and ever since really getting the lead ball-handler role he’s averaging a fantastic eight assists per game, and an even better 9.2 in the last six years. He’s an all-around offensive weapon, one of the best in NBA history and honestly there really isn’t a price too high for a player like that.
What Did the Sixers Give Up
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In all honesty, not much. Simmons of course, is a good player, but in terms of the Sixers he’s a non-factor. He wasn’t going to play here, and given Embiid’s reaction to the trade he wasn’t wanted here either. So in terms of Simmons only, they gave up nothing. Taking a look at the picks, the unprotected 2022 first-rounder (which can be deferred to 2023) is not much. The Sixers are now championship favorites or close to it, and that pick should be in the 26-30 range. They should be in the same situation again next year barring an injury considering Harden picked up his option as part of the deal. Considering how quickly the NBA draft falls off, it’s not too big of a loss. Then you have the protected 2027 pick. It’s protected 1-8 for 2027 and 2028, and becomes two second-round picks in 2029. By that time, the Sixers window should be closed. Harden will probably be retired or well into decline at that point (it would be his age 37 season) while most don’t project Embiid, an injury-prone big, to last much past 30. Philly should be starting or in the midst of a rebuild, which means it’s unlikely the first-rounder ever conveys, or at the very least won’t be a franchise-changing pick if it does.
Onto the two players, honestly Andre Drummond is the bigger loss. He was either THE best or the second-best backup center to Embiid they’ve ever had. Offensively it was no contest, as Drummonds rebounding and finishing (with a few assists thrown in for good measure) were fantastic. Defensively he wasn’t quite as potent as Dwight Howard last year, but Drummond was good at creating turnovers at the very least. With Drummond shipped out and no other trades, the 76ers have just two guys that can nominally play the role, which are 2020 second-rounder Paul Reed (G-League MVP to be fair) who is undersized and was the third-to-last pick in the draft, and 2021 second round-pick (53rd overall) Charles Bassey, who has gotten the minutes over Reed so far but really is just not ready. That’s not his fault really, as he was always a project and he’s a rookie, but it leaves a massive hole at that spot. The buyout market can provide some relief, and any warm body might be better than Bassey right now, but it’s a vital spot considering Embiid doesn’t have the legs to play 40 minutes a night for a whole playoff series. That’s just asking for injury.
Seth Curry was a vital servant to the club, and Morey’s trade of Josh Richardson for Curry was a masterclass. Curry is a light-out three-point shooter, but honestly with the Sixers was mostly a mid-range threat. Against the Atlanta Hawks last year, it was often his offense that really carried the team. In reality though, the loss of Curry isn’t that damaging. While his fame comes from his three-point shooting, in a practical sense it wasn’t as valuable as one might think. Curry’s volume was just too low. He was only taking 5.6 a game this year (his career most too), and even though he was hitting 40% of them, a great mark, that means he’s only actually hitting 2.2 threes a game, which is good for 50th in the league. That’s not this all-consuming three-point threat that many assume him to be. Curry has also been slumping in February, averaging just 10.4 points per game on 35.6/35.7/100 splits (just .2 free throw attempts per game). Finally, as good as his offense was, sometimes his defense was just as poor, with the Hawks series again being a prime example. Curry’s scoring and much more will be replaced easily by Harden, and honestly the three-point volume will probably be even higher. Harden can also comfortably take over the playmaking duties that Curry was forced to assume at times, and while the defense is not great either way, Harden’s sheer size gives him some baseline level that Curry cannot reach. Lastly, Curry’s back up, Isaiah Joe, was a three-point specialist in college, and while he hasn’t quite put it together in the NBA yet, might be able to replace the spacing Curry leaves.
Final Thoughts
Morey has proven to be one of the best decision makers in the league once again, and adds this move into his pantheon of fantastic moves he’s made, just with the Sixers. Trading Josh Richardson for Seth Curry, dumping Al Horford’s albatross contract for Danny Green and now trading a broken, pouting player for one of the best 75 players in NBA history. The picks are really not bad at all, nothing compared to the chance to win a championship. Drummond is a tough loss, but at the end of the day he was a back up, albeit a good one, while the loss of Seth Curry is easily made up for by Harden, even his “spacing” which might not be as potent as one might think. Morey waiting was a risky decision, and it certainly wasn’t a popular one, but he’s been more than vindicated by the results. Getting rid of Simmons at all, for a guy like Harden was unbelievable, unthinkable even at the beginning of the year, and doing it without giving up the exciting young Maxey or the elite defender Thybulle is just unbelievable. The Sixers are true contenders now, and they didn’t even mortgage their future to it. Trust the Process.
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