The Philadelphia 76ers might be fine without James Harden
When it was reported that James Harden wanted a trade away from the Philadelphia 76ers, it was assumed that the team was going to take a significant step back in the Eastern Conference. However, through the first two games of the season, that may not seem to be the case. The Sixers may be 1-1 but they were mightily impressive in both of their showings. In their first showing, they nearly upset the Milwaukee Bucks after falling behind double-digits in the first half.
They then followed that up by taking care of the Toronto Raptors during their second game of the season. In both of those games, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey played like the star players that the Sixers are going to need them to be if they’re going to survive this season when Harden gets traded (assuming that’s something that is still going to happen).
Of course, we need to see if the Sixers can consistently show their ability to remain this competitive without Harden. But at least through the first couple of games of the season, it seems as if the Sixers may be fine if they do end up trading Harden.