Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
The trade deadline has just passed and some shit went down! There were a bunch of trades, but we’re just going to look at the biggest one. The trade that dwarfs all the others is the Philadelphia-Brooklyn trade; that’s right, Ben Simmons has successfully forced his way out of the city of brotherly love and for an even brighter star: James Harden (!). Philly (#11), despite all it’s patience waiting for the “right” deal, sent an awful lot to the Nets for Harden, who has been a little off of his best this year. I mean, 22.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 10.2 APG sounds pretty good, but let’s look at last year, his first with Brooklyn: 24.6 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 10.9 APG. Not too different, although a little worse in every category, but his efficiency has really dropped. His shooting splits this year are 41.4/33.2/86.9, which is quite a drop from last year’s splits: 47.1/36.6/85.9. Additionally, his turnovers, which have always been high, have jumped up from 4.0 to 4.8 per game. He also looks a little out of shape, which can’t be too helpful as he ages (he’s 32, just easing out of the typical prime for an NBA player).
Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a good player, but it’s telling that now ex-teammate Kevin Durant seems pretty OK with the trade, going as far as to say he was “happy we got guys who want to be part of this.” And, hilariously, he also snubbed Harden repeatedly in his capacity as East captain while picking his All-star team. He even chose Rudy Gobert when it was down to the last two, citing defense and rebounding (as if defense and rebounding mattered in any way in an All-star game), which had the panelists and the West captain LeBron cracking up. Kind of crazy that the Beard was effectively the last kid chosen in a playground pickup game considering how dominant an offensive force he has been for the last decade.
But Daryl Morey, the former Houston GM who built the Rockets around Harden’s talents, is now the head of the 76ers, and he was willing to give up Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two defer-able/protected first round draft picks for Harden and veteran Paul Millsap, who may well be waived shortly. Former Piston Drummond is somewhat useful as a role player, although he does basically nothing other than rebound and catch lobs out of the pick and roll. But as a backup center he could maybe add some depth for #15 Brooklyn. But Seth Curry is an incredible shooter (43.7% career on threes) who is having his best year (15.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 4.0 APG) while starting all 45 games before he was traded. He should fit in nicely in the currently injured Joe Harris’ slot at shooting guard, or maybe Steve Nash will prefer to use him off the bench as a sharpshooting 6th man. I can see a starting lineup of Kyrie Irving, Curry/Harris, Simmons, Durant, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Surrounding Simmons with great shooting and making him the 3rd or 4th option on offense is probably the way to get the most out of him. And you can put him on the opponent’s best non-center offensive player, which takes a little pressure off Durant, the only other plus defender in that starting five.
The fit is a little wonkier in Philadelphia, where Joel Embiid is the centerpiece. The MVP candidate is (at this point) the better player, and Harden’s bread and butter, the pick and roll/isolation scoring, isn’t an intuitive match with Embiid’s post game and creativity. Doc Rivers will have to figure out how to integrate Harden with the team effectively. The 76ers were playing well (16-7 in their last 23), but GM Daryl Morey clearly feels they need something more to put them over the top. It’s a gamble, but at least they’re not sitting on an All-star who refuses to play. I think the Nets won the trade, but each team felt like they had to do something (Philly had to move Simmons for SOMETHING and the Nets have lost 10 in a row). It will be fascinating to watch the fortunes of these two teams for the rest of the year and the playoffs.
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