As the 76ers begin the NBA season, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. One particular question is about the trade they recently made to get rid of James Harden and PJ Tucker in exchange for future draft capital and players like former 76er, Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, and Marcus Morris. Many believe that the 76ers made the right decision as it improves the team yet the players they traded for won’t take many touches away from rising star, Tyreese Maxey, from having the ball in his hands and give the wings more death at a position in which the 76ers were lacking.
Senior Anthony Tedesco was asked for his opinion on the trade.
“I believe that it was a great trade and that James Harden would have been a detriment to the team and took touches out of Maxey’s hands. I also believe that Harden is old and would not perform well at all.”
The 76ers have started the season hot going 2-1 in their first 3 games with their only loss coming from the Bucks in a game that went to the buzzer with a final score of 118-117.
However, that one loss is really the only bad thing to happen to the 76ers thus far as rising star Tyreese Maxey is averaging 30.3 ppg on 50-56-91 splits. And the 2023 MVP Joel Embiid is averaging 31 ppg on 54-42-65 splits while also averaging 10 rebounds, 7 assist, and 3 blocks per game.
It’s not just the stars either, Fa pickup Kelly Oubre Jr. is averaging 19 ppg on 50-30-90 splits off the bench and Tobias Harris is averaging 20 ppg on 66-50-80 splits giving the 76ers much needed scoring keeping them in games with better teams.
With the recent trade of James Harden, it’s going to be interesting to see how the 76ers manage the rest of the season and if they can prove to be a NBA Finals contending team.