The basketball world has to continue to give their takes and opinions on the Philadelphia 76ers now that they have acquired James Harden to team up with Joel Embiid. The Sixers gave up a king’s ransom with Ben Simmons as the centerpiece and there are some opinions that the Brooklyn Nets actually won the deal.
Simmons is an enigma at the moment, but there is reason to believe why he is a perfect fit in Brooklyn. He will not have to shoot as much or score often as he will just have to play his usual elite defense while setting up the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as they move forward with their plans.
Harden is the obvious better player, however, and there is reason to believe this is a win-win deal for both sides. However, Nets legend Kenyon Martin–with the then-New Jersey Nets–is confused why the Sixers even made the move for Harden.
Martin sat down with Etan Thomas over at Basketball News and the two of them had a conversation about the trade deadline moves. Martin said this about the Harden addition for Philadelphia:
Don’t get me wrong, Harden is talented, but what has he won? So when it went down my first thought was that Brooklyn got the better of that deal. I think Brooklyn got so much better with all the different pieces they now have. You have a motivated Ben Simmons, who is ready to prove to the world that he’s worthy of that number 1 pick, and rub it in Philly’s face for how they blamed him after the playoffs last year. You get a drop dead shooter in Seth Curry. And you put Ben Simmons in that scenario as a playmaker and surround him with two assassins in Kyrie and KD?
Martin does bring up some excellent points. Simmons’ obvious offensive limitations are not going to matter as much in Brooklyn due to the skill sets of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and Harden has had some playoff failures in the past. Then, on the other hand, Simmons has not had a great playoff track record either.
This is all going to b very interesting to watch unfold as the season continues and goes down to the wire.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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2021-22 Philadelphia 76ers roster after the big James Harden trade
