Philadelphia 76ers: How to make a trade for James Harden work

James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers trade scenario

The trade would most certainly not be cheap for the 76ers. Trading for a former MVP and perennial MVP candidate in James Harden is going to cost you a lot more than you would feel comfortable with, but if the 76ers want a fresh start from the Simmons and Embiid combo, this is one way to shake things up considerably.

With the franchises, both releasing their head coaches it is very clear that both teams need a fresh start. This could be that fresh start.

If fans of the Philadelphia 76ers were completely honest with themselves, they should be able to admit that the Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid duo just isn’t working. Granted, at there very best, they are a dominant duo that is capable of putting teams to the sword.

Simmons with his all NBA defense and LeBron James-Esque traits in transition and assisting the ball. Embiid as a monster down low who when healthy and motivated, alongside Nikola Jokic is the best big man in the NBA.

But unfortunately, those days are few and far between. A huge portion of the blame for why the duo hasn’t worked is that they occupy the same space.

Embiid, to be at his absolute best and most effective is a back-to-the-basket center. Give him the ball in the post and he can make some of the best post defenders in the world look foolish.

Ben Simmons, for him to be effective, needs to make his way to the rim, with all due respect to Simmons, he can’t shoot at all and gets the vast majority of his points at the rim. For both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to get hot, they need to be in the paint.

So far for the  Philadelphia 76ers it just hasn’t worked out and there seems to be a power struggle between the two players about who is the No. 1 guy in Philly.