James Harden will make his Sixers debut on Friday night when the Philadelphia 76ers travel to Minnesota. Harden joined the Sixers in a blockbuster deal just before the trade deadline two weeks ago.
So far he has had to wait for his first appearance in the Sixers jersey due to a hamstring injury. Like Shams Charania (The Athletic) reported, it will be against the Timberwolves. The game takes place on Saturday night at 2 a.m. German time.
The 32-year-old has not played a game in the association since February 2, having missed the last four games with his old team prior to his trade from Brooklyn to Philadelphia. After the blockbuster deal that shipped Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks to the Nets in exchange for Harden, the Sixers said they wanted Harden to rest until after the All-Star weekend.
Now he seems to have cured his thigh injury. He has already been able to train with his teammates over the past few days. Nothing seems to stand in the way of the beginning of the Harden/Embiid era in Philadelphia.
“Integrating James Harden into an offense is not difficult. He’s an excellent basketball player, so you don’t have to complicate things,” said head coach Doc Rivers, unconcerned about a potential adjustment phase with Harden in Philly.
The 2018 MVP has 22.5 points, 10.2 assists and 8.0 rebounds for Brooklyn this season with shot rates of 41.4 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from downtown – his worst stats in years . Apparently Harden was dissatisfied in Brooklyn and wanted a change of scenery. With the trade to the Sixers, he got that wish.
