James Harden and the Nets didn’t work out as planned. He was brought to the Nets to compliment Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But instead, he wasn’t happy and a trade happened at the last minute.
Harden’s earliest Philadelphia debut is expected on Tuesday when the 76ers go against the Boston Celtics. He will now become teammates with Tyrese Maxey who thinks that it’s surreal to work with someone who he grew up watching. Maxey said that “It’s kind of crazy, because he was one of the guys you played with on (NBA) 2K when you were a younger kid”.
There will be changes in how the 76ers are going to approach the game. Sixers coach Doc Rivers told the team that practices are going to be more intense as they have a roster that’s more compatible playing fast games.
Maxey said that “It’s going to be great”. Harden will also play with Joel Embiid. For Maxey “It’s two MVP-caliber players on top of what we have here already. I think one thing that’s really going to help us is the chemistry and the brotherhood that we have here. It’s easy to welcome someone in, no matter who it is, Paul, James, it’s easy to welcome people in because of the community we have here already”.
Unsure When Harden and Millsap will Make Debut
But just this weekend, Doc Rivers announced that they are still trying to figure out how Harden and Paul Millsap are going to debut. The good news is that both teams are doing physicals. Rivers said that “Him (Harden) and Paul were here today and I had good talks with both of them”. Rivers added that “We’re gonna form our plan and as far as health for both and then go from there”.
Harden hasn’t played several games for Brooklyn due to his hamstring injury. Rivers said that “The practice part probably won’t matter as much as the health”. He added that “Let’s say he’s not ready to practice, but ready to play. We’d play him anyway. When you do trades this time of the year, there’s many times you put a guy on the floor with zero practice time. You just throw them out there and you’re gonna have to figure out how it goes. The moment he’s cleared to play whether we have practice in front of that or not, we’re just gonna throw him out there”.
No Free Agency for Harden
As part of the new deal, Harden has not opted into his $47.3 million contract. This means that Harden’s soonest chance to opt-in is by the end of this season.
However, it doesn’t mean that Harden isn’t committed to Philadelphia. It isn’t a secret that Harden wanted to be part of the 76ers along with Embiid and Daryl Morey. Plus, the most lucrative path for Harden is to stay in a long-term partnership with the 76ers. According to Derek Bodner, Harden opting in and eventually and having an extension (traded players will have to wait at least six months before they can sign an extension) will potentially give him $274 million through the 2026-2027 season.
