76ers Are Early Winners of James Harden Blockbuster With Clippers

The James Harden blockbuster hasn't looked great for the Clippers so far.

It’s a new week in Philadelphia, and the 76ers are riding high on an eight-game win streak.

Going into the 2023-2024 NBA season, nobody knew what to expect out of the Philadelphia 76ers. With the James Harden saga leaving question marks around the Sixers, one might assume it would take a while before the Sixers figured out how to thrive playing without the ten-time All-Star for the first time in a season and a half.

Harden never debuted for the Sixers this season before he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. When he was moved, the Sixers were 2-1. Since then, they’ve improved to 8-1 and hold the NBA’s best record.

Let me be very clear: it is still very early on in the season, and there is a ton of basketball left to be played, and a lot can happen between now and the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

But the 76ers look like clear-cut early winners in the Harden blockbuster, which took place on Halloween morning.

It’s simple — since the trade, everything has pretty much gone right for the 76ers. As for the Clippers, well, not so much.

The LA Clippers suffered their fourth-straight loss since James Harden's debut.  / USA Today

Winless With Harden

James Harden made his Clippers debut one week ago. At Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks spoiled The Beard’s season debut by taking down the Clippers 111-97. LA tried to leave New York with a victory, but the Brooklyn Nets defeated them 100-93. Harden left the Big Apple, averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds.

A four-game road trip for LA concluded with a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. In under 30 minutes of action, Harden took six shots. He scored 14 points and dished out three assists in another loss. 

Then came the official home debut for Harden on Sunday afternoon. With a 28-minute shift, Harden put up a season-high 12 shots from the field. He hit on just 33 percent of his attempts. Despite facing a struggling Grizzlies team, the Clippers went winless through their first four games with Harden on the court.

Granted, the veteran guard is brand new to the Clippers and hasn’t had much time to gel with his new teammates, but Harden’s first four games in LA have been far from promising. He’s been a minus-34 on the court for the Clippers in 125 minutes of action, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Clippers have been outscored by 43 points in their last four games.

Tyrese Maxey is thriving as the Sixers' starting point guard.  / USA Today

All-Star Incoming?

When Ben Simmons held out from the Sixers in 2021, Tyrese Maxey was offered a chance to start in the Sixers’ backcourt. With that opportunity, Maxey proved he was a starting-caliber player in the NBA. When Harden held out this year, that left the window open for Maxey to take the keys to the Sixers’ offense and attempt to prove he can be a playmaker while maintaining a high level of scoring.

Suddenly, Maxey looks like an incoming All-Star. The assist numbers haven’t reached Harden’s league-leading level, but dishing out 7.2 assists per game is quite the jump for Maxey, whose career high is 4.3 APG. And the fact that he’s doing it while turning the ball over just one time per game makes it even more impressive.

Nine games into the year, Maxey’s averaging 28.6 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and 43 percent from three. He was already proving to be an elite shooter, but Maxey’s taking his scoring up a notch while adding stellar playmaking into the mix. Harden helped Maxey a lot, which is something the young guard made clear during Harden’s time in Philadelphia, but Maxey is proving that he can flourish without an All-Star caliber guard next to him, as he’s putting together an All-Star campaign for himself. 

Sixers' Nic Batum made his starting debut with the 76ers on Sunday.  / USA Today

The Helping Hands

The Sixers didn’t land an All-Star caliber player in return for Harden, but they got some helping hands by acquiring four role players. KJ Martin and Marcus Morris haven’t been added to the mix consistently, but Nic Batum and Robert Covington are clearly set to stick in the rotation.

Like everything else, it’s been a small sample size, but Philadelphia has seen a nice jump in the role-player department with the two-way help of Covington and Batum. Even with a struggling shot, Covington has held his own in six games, displaying top-notch defense with his deflections and 1.8 steals per game. Batum has sprinkled in a little bit of everything in four games and now is the Sixers’ fifth starter in the absence of the injured Kelly Oubre.

Since adding PJ Tucker in the deal, the Sixers are on their third starting lineup. They haven’t seen a ton of Batum with the starting unit, but he’s been a great addition, hitting on over 65 percent of his shots and averaging seven points offensively. Meanwhile, Tucker has struggled a lot in five games with the Clippers, draining just 16 percent of his threes. The defensive side of the ball is where Tucker was most productive with the Sixers, but they haven’t missed him too much overall.