Stage II: Get A Guy
Harden is gone. It’s time to watch other teams.
This column is written by Michael Levin (@michael_levin) and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
It’s over. Not just the James Harden Uncomfortable Experience, but the even more singular Grind Trade Machine Down To A Nub Trying To Find A Team That Could Plausibly Trade For James Harden Experience.
He’s gone, the elusive good vibes have resurfaced, and the coffers are restocked. The Sixers don’t have a 3rd star yet (unless the person reading this is Tobias’s dad/agent, then we definitely do sir!) but they have a competitive number of first round picks & matching contracts to trade should a disgruntled star, or an unaffordable star, or a soon-to-be-overpaid-but-not-by-us star become available and point in the general direction of Philadelphia. And now we reach the second act of our story.
The expiring contracts of Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, and Robert Covington can’t be traded (except individually) until January 1. Although Morris’s contract matches up pretty nicely with OG Anunoby’s, any other major midseason trade Daryl makes would have to aggregate those contracts to make the money work. So we have about two months between now and 1/1, and another month until the February 8 trade deadline. Obviously what will command most of our attention is how the Sixers continue to look without Harden, how Maxey’s doing running the show, the way Embiid diversifies himself under Nick Nurse, etc.
BUT WHAT MAY BE NEARLY AS IMPORTANT TO THE SIXERS CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES... is watching those other teams. The teams that employ Zach LaVine, and Pascal Siakam, and Brandon Ingram, and Donovan Mitchell, and Marcus Smart. Summoning all our spiteful Philadelphian energy to induce chaos in Toronto and Chicago, etc is going to be not only crucial to capitalizing on our newfound trove of picks. It’s very fun. It’s fun to have pet hater interests around the league, invested in their failure on a personal level (Clippers, Celtics) or Machiavellian one (any team with a wing type player who could want out).
So let's root for more players only meetings in Chicago. For the Cavs and Grizzlies to continue to struggle. For Zion to decide Brandon Ingram's long spindly body is the only thing stopping him from thunderdunking from the 3-point line. That the Raptors mascot gets possessed by an ancient dinosaur spirit and starts feeding on players. Pick your favorite team to short, and redirect some of that Haunted Sixers energy onto another hapless franchise.
I look forward to doing this. And I urge you to find your own rooting interest and begin watching that team like a hawk ready to attack from the heavens. After months of being the laughingstock of the league again — the “at least we’re not the Sixers” bar — we’re finally back in a position of strength. Let's not take it for granted.