CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid sported a big smile Thursday as he won a half-court shooting contest against fellow centers Andre Drummond and Charles Bassey and raised his arms in triumph.
About 40 minutes later, he learned that James Harden and Paul Millsap are his newest teammates. Drummond is heading to the Nets along with Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two first-round picks in a trade that pairs Embiid with a former MVP who’s made 10 consecutive All-Star games.
The deal is packed with risk, but Embiid and the Sixers have legitimate reasons for glee.
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In addition to erasing all the awkward questions about Simmons’ absence, they’ve picked up an excellent passer next to an overwhelming big man who’s the NBA’s current leading scorer; kept prized, homegrown young players Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle; and added star power to a roster that didn’t look miles away from title contention even without a certain 25-year-old Australian.
It wasn’t all grins and positive energy as the Harden deal neared, though. Head coach Doc Rivers canceled practice amid the flurry of rumors — “I just thought it was the human thing to do,” he said — and reflected on the feeling that a team he loved coaching could be fractured.
Curry, his son-in-law, and Drummond, who Rivers has known since the 28-year-old’s high school days, ultimately moved to Brooklyn.
“It’s amazing how many times your heart is broken as a coach,” Rivers said. “You have to fall in love with your team and get everything out of them — and you do. I do every year. ... It’s amazing how many times a player will break your heart or they’ll go somewhere, and all of a sudden they’re mad at you. But that’s fine. I tell young coaches that all the time. It doesn’t matter.
NBA
“You still open your heart up. You still do it over and over again and understand, if you’re in the business to win and you sell yourself that you want to win titles, you’re going to have to also open yourself up to moments like this, and trades — and even not winning, and getting hurt over and over again, and getting back up. And that’s part of the journey of a coach.”
The rumor-laced dynamics of deadline day suggest otherwise, but the players aren’t trading cards and the Sixers will miss two guys whose company they enjoyed.
And yet … Rivers was candid Tuesday night about what he wanted at the deadline, saying his team needed a point guard. The Sixers got a very good one.
They also boosted their odds of playoff success, at least on paper, by easing the late-game shot creation onus on Embiid. Irritated, incredulous opponents as Harden and Embiid draw heaps of fouls sounds likely.
President of basketball operations Daryl Morey’s overarching perspective has been sensible and consistent throughout the Simmons standoff. He sees his job as giving the Sixers a realistic shot at a championship.
“I do absolutely believe that this team, even without any changes, has a chance,” Morey said last month to Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanatic. “It’s not as good a chance as any of us want. We want to improve those chances. We want to improve both every day in practice, but also in my job in figuring out how to maybe add to this team in a way that really improves what’s happening around Joel and Tobias (Harris) and our other great players.
“At the end of the day, for sure we have a chance. You can literally go to Vegas and bet on it right now, so you can calculate it. It’s a real chance. It’s not where I like to be. I like to be at least in the top five in the league. We’re just outside of that. But we absolutely have a chance, and we know how special that is.”
Is that better chance enough to make this trade the right one for Simmons?
As always, Morey will be judged primarily by the results. And there’s catastrophic potential. Harden’s only full season with the Nets was marred by a hamstring injury that he aggravated during the playoffs. He’s 32 years old and his shooting has dipped this year (41.4 percent from the floor, 33.2 percent from three-point range).
Since Morey first traded for him as the Rockets’ general manager in 2012, Harden has played 701 games and 37.0 minutes per contest. Though Harden’s game isn’t centered around athleticism, most NBA veterans tend to decline as their mid-30s approach. Nagging, recurring injuries like the ones Danny Green has suffered this season become more common.
As Derek Bodner detailed in his Daily Six newsletter, Harden will be eligible to earn as much as $274.6 million from the 2022-23 through 2026-27 seasons if he exercises his player option of approximately $47.4 million. His contract extension could be highly burdensome.
And Rivers snapping his fingers probably won’t be enough for on-court magic. The team has one open roster spot and multiple holes that would be nice to plug.
Bassey, a rookie second-round pick, is the one true center behind Embiid. Paul Millsap, who’s 16 years older than Bassey at 37, will perhaps be a small-ball five option. Reigning G League MVP Paul Reed is still in Philadelphia, too. A two-way wing, ideally one who can rebound and make open three-point shots, would also be useful. Curry’s outside shooting and evolving two-man game with Embiid are both key losses.
The Sixers surely know there will be a ton of time to further fret about details and mull the many possible regrets. Morey valued the present, teamed up with Harden again and put an All-Star alongside his MVP contender.
If Embiid’s smile lasted hours after that pre-trade shooting contest, who could blame him?
Harden did not exercise his player option Thursday, a source confirmed Friday to NBC Sports Philadelphia, as PhillyVoice's Kyle Neubeck first reported. Harden and the team are both confident in his long-term future with the Sixers, per the source. This piece originally cited a report from The Athletic that Harden opted in Thursday.