Joel Embiid Says Ben Simmons Saga Was Draining, Didn't Know About James Harden Trade
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is having an MVP-caliber season and has led his team to a 46-28 record, which currently has them fourth in the Eastern Conference but just a half-game behind the first-place Boston Celtics.
That's especially impressive considering Ben Simmons didn't play a single minute for the Sixers this year.
Embiid recently told The Athletic's Sam Amick that Simmons' decision not to play before he was ultimately traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February wore on him and his teammates:
"It was a tough situation to navigate and go through (with Simmons). Even to this day, I don’t have any hard feelings towards everything that happened. But being in my position, having to answer questions about that whole thing every single day, it was kind of draining. And I’m sure it was draining for my teammates. So the drama was pretty crazy, but my whole thing going into the season was to come in and try to be a better leader. In the past, I was trying to lead on the court, by my play, and I was never really focused on off the court and what I could bring to the table. So, you know, I knew the situation we were in, and I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I had to make sure that I brought it off the court and on the court."
Simmons, who has missed the entire season to this point, was ultimately traded alongside Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first-round pick and a top-eight-protected 2027 first-rounder to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden and Paul Millsap.
While Embiid acknowledged that he had heard some outside rumors about the possibility of a Simmons-for-Harden swap before the 2020-21 season—before Harden was ultimately dealt to the Nets—he told Amick he didn't know the star point guard was on the table this season.
"Honestly, I didn’t know anything was going to happen, really, until it happened," he said.
The trade has been a good one for the Sixers, who effectively added Harden for a player who wasn't ever going to play for them again and two role players. In the 14 games Harden has played for Philly, the team has gone 10-4.
Harden is averaging 22.4 points, 9.9 assists and 7.6 rebounds for the Sixers while shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three.
It hasn't all been perfect. When Harden isn't hitting his step-back three or getting to the free-throw line, his scoring output has suffered. And there have been questions about his willingness to play more of a scoring role than a playmaking one at times. He's putting up only 13.8 shots per game with the Sixers, the lowest mark he's posted since the 2011-12 season.
But in general, the one-two punch of Embiid and Harden has dramatically improved the team's half-court offense. That was a real issue for the Sixers in the Simmons era given the spacing issues he created with his unwillingness to take a jump shot.
"We have a chance," Embiid told Amick of the Sixers' title aspirations. "But we've all got to play at the highest level possible. I've got to be as dominant as ever. Obviously (Harden) has to be extremely good too, whether it's scoring the ball or setting up guys. Everybody else has got to come in together and believe in it and really buy in."
