The Philadelphia 76ers viewed veteran star James Harden as the missing piece just a few years ago, but it’s now obvious that wasn’t the case.
There was a heated feud between Harden and 76ers team president Daryl Morey, who Morey credited with the organization signing forward Paul George. George’s signing was an indirect result of the feud, as Philadelphia was forced to give up major assets to acquire Harden from the Brooklyn Nets.
Because of this, Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey again rated the deal A C+ for the 76ers.
“Prior to Harden’s recent move to Los Angeles, it would have been easy enough to scoff at this from a Philadelphia perspective,” Bailey wrote. “He never made it past the second round as a Sixers player. As he was on the cusp of leaving, he was publicly and aggressively calling team president Daryl Morey a liar.”
The Sixers moved Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons, a 2023 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick to acquire Harden, along with center Paul Millsap.
“Giving up draft capital and a once-franchise cornerstone player like Ben Simmons for that kind of headache seems, on its face, like a disaster,” Bailey shared.
Clearly, letting Simmons go was a blessing, as he has appeared in just 57 games since leaving Philadelphia. While they didn’t reap the benefits right away, the 76ers are ready to compete for an NBA championship less than three years later.
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