James Harden, Sixers see Joel Embiid improving as a passer out of traffic

CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid is so dominant on the floor that when he gets the ball, he immediately is swarmed by defenders. Teams have to throw the kitchen sink at the big fella to try and stop him.

Therefore, Embiid faces a lot of traffic down low. He will receive double teams and triple teams from just about everywhere, and he needs to be able to make the right decisions out of those double teams.

As the Sixers prepare for opening night in Boston on Tuesday, they see an Embiid who makes better reads and better passes to help the offense flow.

“Just on double teams,” said James Harden. “He’s a force in the paint. Under the basket, he does a really good job of drawing two, sometimes even three. So I think just us spacing, knowing where the double team is coming from, and then making ourselves available so he can make passes a lot easier, but we work on it every single day. He’s done a really good job and continues to get better.”

One of the more underrated parts of Philadelphia finding a way to help Embiid succeed out of the double team is its designation of cutters. The Sixers have a number of shooters the big fella can kick out to, but to make Embiid’s life a bit easier, coach Doc Rivers is designating cutters to provide more options.

“I also think the player has to know where the space is,” said Rivers. “I got it started our first year here where we put Ben (Simmons) in the right spot and the other guy is moving in the right spot. It helps the passer to know where guys are. Now, you still need a cutter, even if you have all the shooting in the world, because someone has to take care of their trapping, so I think we’ve got a pretty good job, even more, this year of designating cutters. Who should cut, where they should cut from, and Joel knows where they’re at.”

Harden has played with incredible talent in his career: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving. But none of those guys are Embiid. The Beard has changed his game to fit better next to him.

“It’s different for me, but last season I got a little bit of a glimpse of it,” he explained. “This offseason I’ve trained a little bit just playing off the ball, making sure I’m ready to catch and shoot and play off the catch a little bit more than I normally do. Obviously, we all know how unique he is, how skilled a 7-footer, as big as he is, to not only score the basketball, but draw some attention. It’s only a handful of bigs in his league or maybe even in the history of the NBA that is as skilled as he is.”