Rumour: The Philadelphia 76ers Are Planning To Sign Mike D’Antoni As The New Head Coach In Hopes Of Luring James Harden Out Of Houston. Could Harden Be The Answer To Philadelphia’s Process?
In an article written by Bleacher Report, Tyler Conway reveals that John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia believes that the 76ers interest in signing Mike D’Antoni this off-season is far deeper than it may seem. Philadelphia’s interest in signing Mike D’Antoni as the new head coach is a tactic of luring James Harden to Philadelphia! With Harden being the franchise player and an MVP in Houston, the probability of Harden being traded is close to impossible, which only means that Philadelphia could be aiming to sign Harden when he is a free agent in the 2021-22 NBA off-season! With Harden already being 31 years old, his prime is almost coming to an end. However, John Clark believes that a trade could be offered if the Philadelphia 76ers are successful in signing D’Antoni.
I’m hearing one of the reasons along with coaching that the Sixers have a lot of interest in Mike D’Antoni is feeling with some in organization that he could help lure James Harden to Philly.
Harden can become a free agent in 2 years, and there is possibility of trade.
Clark tweeted this on September 24, 2020, at 9:59 AM on twitter
https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/1309160571036729344?s=20
While this is all a rumour, the possibility of James Harden in Philadelphia is intriguing as he would play alongside arguably the best team he has ever been a part of since his tenure in OKC! From Joel Embiid being one of the best centers in the NBA to Ben Simmons, an All-Star and a potential MVP candidate, James Harden would be in the ideal system to flourish as a shooting guard while having a real chance at competing for a championship. The only fear that comes into play is D’Antoni’s coaching style as he is a one-dimensional coach that heavily relies on three-point shooting and isolation plays. If a trade for Harden is successful, then the Philadelphia 76ers could become the best team in the Eastern conference if Harden can play off the ball!
The reality is, no team in the NBA can win a championship on their own. Basketball is a team sport and not an individual sport, which is a sacrifice that Harden needs to make if he wants to find success in Philadelphia. While he is a superstar and deserves to handle the ball, Ben Simmons, known as a pass-first oriented type of player, would use his play-making ability to find savvy ways to facilitate the ball to an open James Harden. Furthermore, Joel Embiid, a 20 point per game scorer that can shoot the ball fairly well from the three-point range while having Hakeem Olajuwon tendencies, would be the ideal complement to James Harden’s style of playing basketball. One of Houston’s horrid ideas was eliminating the center position and playing the smallest form of small-ball basketball the NBA has ever seen. With the 76ers, they provide the ideal team for him to thrive on as they possess a big man that can shoot, an unselfish playmaker, a decent cast of bench scorers in Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Alec Burks (if he re-signs) and lastly, a coach that Harden has had the most success within Mike D’Antoni’s coaching. While all of this is a mere fantasy, how could Philadelphia make this a reality?
The Philadelphia 76ers possess some of the worst contracts in the NBA today. With Al Horford and Tobias Harris receiving a max-contract for four or more years, the 76ers have provided themselves access to hell! To trade or sign James Harden, they would need to move both of these players for the salaries to match. With the Golden State Warriors reportedly being rumoured to be interested in Al Horford, the 76ers would most likely have to receive either Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green. However, Tobias Harris would be tough to trade away as he is one of the NBA’s highest-paid players. The only teams that could potentially trade for him are lower-end teams with an absurd amount of salary space to absorb a contract. A team that they should consider in negotiating with is the Toronto Raptors as their roster is slowly breaking apart due to expiring contracts. If the 76ers can present a trade well enough to acquire Kyle Lowry, who has an expiring contract next season, then the possibility of trading or signing James Harden becomes much more attainable. However, these are all assumptions that are not guaranteed.
The best option for Philadelphia to acquire James Harden would be when he is a free agent. Because of Philadelphia’s terrible decisions in offering a max-contract to players that didn’t deserve it, their hopes of freeing up cap-space will be impossible due to how large Harris and Horford’s contracts are. Philadelphia would need to wait a few seasons to trade away these players as no team is willing to absorb that much money. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons are currently in this hole, and even though they are far from being a contender, both teams still have aspirations in trading their big contracts.
The idea of James Harden in Philadelphia is amusing but is unlikely due to contract restraints. If the 76ers were smarter with their money, the process wouldn’t be dying. However, in the last few seasons, NBA fans have seen crazier things, hence why this idea would most likely become a reality in a matter of seasons! No one ever imagined that Kevin Durant would sign to the Golden State Warriors or that LeBron James would ever leave Cleveland, so this notion of James Harden as a member of the 76ers could come true. Would James Harden resurrect the process? The answer is yes if he plays off the ball and less isolation basketball.
