Should the 76ers deal Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid if they trade for James Harden? A debate
Harden #Harden
The James Harden drama in Houston has reached its next, intriguing stage: According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets superstar “indicated to the Houston Rockets before training camp that he would be open to a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers or possibly other contenders.”
The Sixers, of course, have former Rockets GM Daryl Morey as their president of basketball operations. And although Morey has said he wants to keep Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid together in Philly, you’d think Houston would want one of them for a megastar of Harden’s caliber.
So which one should they trade? Our Mike Sykes and Bryan Kalbrosky debated it.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The Sixers should trade Embiid
There’s not a lot in the NBA that I would trade Joel Embiid for. But James Harden is not included in that. Swapping Embiid for Harden makes a ton of sense from the Sixers’ standpoint.
Now, look. Embiid is only 26 years old. He’s already one of the best defensive players in the NBA and, maybe, the best center in the league. Parting with him wouldn’t be easy. But his early career foot injuries still worry me as a big man. On top of that, he’s at his best with the back to the basket playing from the post, but the NBA is a perimeter game. It’s all about creating looks from three and at the rim. Harden is one of the best three or four players in the league at doing that. So, sure, trading Joel Embiid is hard. But for Harden? It makes sense. — Mike Sykes
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Sixers should deal Simmons
If the Houston Rockets are willing to negotiate with their former executive Daryl Morey and send James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, the most logical solution for both parties would revolve around swapping the three-time scoring champion for Simmons. Houston could re-build around Simmons, surrounding him on the floor with four shooters like the Milwaukee Bucks have done with back-to-back league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Philadelphia could keep their generational talent in Joel Embiid, who had the best player efficiency rating (PER) and real plus-minus (RPM) among all centers in the East Conference last season. With the addition of Harden, however, the Sixers could spread the floor for much better spacing than they ever had with Embiid and Simmons playing alongside one another. This would allow Embiid to maximize his scoring potential in the dunker spot, which is not a luxury he has had in recent years. Defenders know that they can sag-off Simmons when he is on the perimeter because he is a non-shooter. But with Harden a constant threat to knock down his shots from beyond the arc, Embiid would have more room to make his magic happen in the post. This would make the offense harder to game plan for because Harden is significantly more unpredictable than Simmons, who mostly relied on shots at the rim.
On the other end of the floor, meanwhile, Morey learned first-hand during the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals that teams must be able to defend big men like Anthony Davis if they want to win an NBA title. Philadelphia would struggle to come out of the East if they did not have an option to contain Antetokounmpo. Embiid offers that in a way that few other players on the planet can provide. If he were shipped, the Sixers would be poorly equipped to contain their opponents on the interior attack. — Bryan Kalbrosky
Dates to circle in the NBA’s first half schedule
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