By pairing Harden with Ben Simmons, who won league MVP two years ago, Philly gains another MVP winner and arguably one of the league's best scorers ever. Ball handling duties will be alleviated from Simmons in favor of Harden, but unlike Harden's time in Houston, he will also have some help making plays on the court. The Sixers have likely not forgotten that Simmons fouled out of the epic double-overtime Game 5 of last year's Finals, and having Harden on the floor will help avoid that problem again and Harden's knack for drawing fouls on the opposition will also benefit the 76ers in close games.
Losing Joel Embiid is a tough pain to swallow, but coming with Harden is Eric Gordon, a more proven veteran shooter than Shake Milton, who is en route to Houston along with Al Horford's services. Clint Capela will pick up the slack in Embiid's departure, with free agent acquisition Julius Randle able to back him up off the bench. Tobias Harris is able to slide back to his natural stretch four position, as will Simmons at the 3 spot, with Harden taking the PG reigns. Much of Philly's fan-base has often expressed disagreement and frustration with Simmons trying to do so many things, live up to so much expectation. Likewise, Harden escapes an impatient-turned-scornful eye in Rockets fan base for not coming through in the post-season, despite strong regular season accomplishments. Hopefully, both players can crack the code by coming together to win big under the brightest lights.
For the woeful Houston Rockets, they got blasted again by the Spurs despite a strong showing by Westbrook, dropping to 4-17 on the season. Luke Walton was canned as coach, with Sam Cassell taking over the reigns, signaling a turnover in roster construction. By pairing Russell Westbrook with Joel Embiid, Houston moves away from the D'Antoni small-ball era, a similar approach to Westbrook's time with Steven Adams in OKC. Shake Milton gets time to develop his scoring game under less scrutiny and it's clearly Westbrook's team.
