‘There’s no ceiling’: Sixers outlook hinges on first full season of Joel Embiid-James Harden partnership

A two-minute snippet of a training camp practice broadcast live on NBA TV captured a candid and insightful conversation between Doc Rivers and James Harden — one that reinforced, in the 76ers coach’s words, “this ain’t a democracy.”

Rivers had pulled Harden aside to emphasize the need to first establish All-NBA center Joel Embiid down low, because the Sixers were a “horrible” post passing team last season. The coach also reminded that, in addition to being an elite facilitator, he wants Harden to pick his moments to flash the aggressive scoring that made him a former MVP and perennial All-Star. Rivers then assured that he understood it would take time to perfect the Harden-Embiid partnership that is still less than 40 games old, but stressed that Harden needs to be a tone-setter with his spirit.

“Y’all got to get a communication where y’all listen to each other,” Rivers said. “… It’s going to take a while, but when it clicks, James, we’re going to be unbeatable. Unbeatable.”

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The Sixers’ offseason moves bolstered their depth, defense, and toughness, all on-court and intangible qualities that great teams need to survive and thrive during the season’s grind. Tyrese Maxey is an electric rising star, while Tobias Harris is a proven offensive threat. But superstars’ performances overwhelmingly determine who wins NBA championships, meaning the 2022-23 Sixers will go as far as the first full season of Embiid and Harden can take them in a vaunted top of the Eastern Conference.

“Just being so high-skilled and high-IQ guys, I think we can figure it out,” Harden said Monday, one day before the Sixers’ opener against Celtics in Boston. “I know we can figure it out. And then having a lot of the complementary guys to help with that makes all of our jobs a lot easier.”

It’s been less than nine months since the Sixers pulled off the blockbuster deadline trade for Harden to become the new running mate for Embiid, who last season was the MVP runner-up for the second consecutive season after leading the league in scoring with more than 30 points per game.

But the last time those two players shared the court was not exactly pretty.

During Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat, Embiid wore a mask to protect an orbital fracture near his eye and tape wrapped around his hand and wrist to protect a torn thumb ligament that would require offseason surgery. Harden, meanwhile, took only two shots in a scoreless second half, then said after the game that the ball “just didn’t get back to me.”

The offseason presented an opportunity to take stock of the Sixers’ final 36 combined regular-season and playoff games, during which much of the chemistry between Embiid and Harden — and among the complementary players surrounding them — was built on the fly.

The good: Embiid and Harden were the NBA’s most efficient pick-and-roll duo in that limited sample size.

The not-so-good: The offense stagnated as the season wound down, with less floor spacing, ball movement, and transition play.

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Harden joked at media day that he and Embiid did not spend as much time together during the summer as he had hoped, because “Jo likes being by himself.” Harden organized a team camp in Los Angeles, while he and Embiid played pickup games and worked out a few times with each other to complement their own training regimens.

It was refreshing for Harden to return to an offseason centered on more than rehabbing the hamstring injury that affected him for parts of two seasons. In addition to recovering his burst and honing individual skills such as ballhandling, isolation play, and court vision as a point guard and distributor, Harden drilled catch-and-shoot opportunities to mimic when the ball will come back to him when Embiid is double- and triple-teamed down low.

Although Embiid needed time to heal post-surgery, his personal trainer, Drew Hanlen, called this offseason one of their most productive working together. They emphasized perimeter attacks, finishing at the rim off those drives and sharp dribble pickups to shoot after getting to his spot off the bounce. They also sprinkled in some pick-and-roll work, “just so we could put him in those spots and simulate exactly what he was going to see in games” with Harden running the offense.

“The truth is, when James is at his best, he makes Joel’s job a lot easier,” Hanlen told The Inquirer last week.

As Rivers rewatched film, meanwhile, he kept noticing the way the Heat regularly denied Embiid at the elbow. His first message to Harden and Embiid: “When [you] made it simple, it was easy.”

“If it’s not broke, why are we trying other crap?” Rivers said. “Run it, get it, swing it, play.”

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The preseason was about working through that two-man game in real time.

Though Harden has played alongside other future Hall of Famers, including Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook at two stops and Chris Paul in Houston, none of them resemble Embiid’s blend of size and skill. In that same NBA TV clip, Rivers acknowledged that “what I’ve got to get y’all right on is when to roll, when to pop, when you’ve got the [isolation].”

The coach also described a sequence during an early practice when, following a defensive switch, guard De’Anthony Melton moved to Embiid while center Montrezl Harrell guarded Harden. In the past, that would be a prime opportunity for Harden to take the big man off the dribble. But now, “we’re throwing it to Joel,” Rivers said.

“We’ve got a lot of options out of that,” Embiid added about the pick-and-roll. “But that’s a play that, really, I can get the pocket pass and get a wide-open shot every single time.”

And when Embiid and Harden are humming, veteran forward P.J. Tucker said, that puts their teammates at ease to “just do their job. Just do what you’re supposed to do.” Harris stressed the importance of spacing and cutting around Embiid, allowing him to operate in the post. Maxey now has the awareness that, if his defender steps away from him to swarm Embiid, “that next pass is flying toward my way.”

“The communication with them, on and off the court … it’s going to show up on Tuesday [in the season opener at Boston] and for the rest of the year,” Maxey said. “We’ve got to know how to play together. Those are our stars. Those are our big-time players. Their connectivity has been really [good].”

Rivers estimates that, on a scale of one to 10, Embiid and Harden functioned at an 8 last season. They have already taken positive steps since that televised training camp practice, when Rivers described the tandem as “forced and unnatural.”

Embiid and Harden now have six months to reach that optimal level.

And if that happens?

“There’s no ceiling,” Tucker said of his superstar teammates. “Anything is possible.”