Can the Sixers win an NBA title with James Harden? Doc Rivers says yes, but...
The Sixers now have the star to complement Joel Embiid. It's now or never for their championship hopes.
Doc Rivers was asked an obvious and timely question.
With the addition of James Harden, do the 76ers now have enough to win an NBA title?
“Yeah, I think so,” the Sixers coach said Friday. “I mean, I don’t know. That’s something we will find out, you know? We did it with the belief we do, obviously.”
He didn’t seem too convincing, as time isn’t exactly on the Sixers’ side.
The Sixers are excited about acquiring James Harden and Paul Millsap in Thursday’s blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets. However, they had to give Brooklyn their sharpshooting guard Seth Curry, reserve center Andre Drummond and two first-round picks in addition to disgruntled point guard Ben Simmons.
“Losing Drum, we’re going to be in the buyout market these days,” Rivers said. “So we’ll look at that and the quicker we can get together the better. We don’t have a lot of time.
“Phoenixes of the world and there are teams: Milwaukee and Miami. They’ve been together, Milwaukee, three years, four years as a group. We have to get it done quick.”
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The Sixers improved to 33-22 after defeating Oklahoma City Thunder, 100-87, on Friday night. They’re in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and 2 ½ games behind the first-place Heat (36-20). The defending NBA champion Bucks (35-22) were in fourth place. Meanwhile, the Suns (45-10) have the best record in the Western Conference and NBA.
Harden and Millsap will not compete in this weekend’s games. After facing the Thunder, the Sixers will face the Cavaliers on Saturday. Harden and Millsap are expected to travel to the Sixers practice facility this weekend to be evaluated by the team’s medical staff and will be introduced to the media next week. Rivers wouldn’t give a timetable for their debuts.
Next week, the Sixers will have a home game against Boston (Tuesday) and a road game at Milwaukee (Thursday) before heading into the All-Star break. Harden has been sidelined with left hamstring tightness. Millsap, who hasn’t played since Jan. 13, was working out in Atlanta.
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“I’m not a doctor,” said Rivers, when asked if he’s concerned about Harden’s hamstring. “I don’t know. That’s just stuff I stay out of. I’m sure we’ve done our due diligence. Obviously, health is health - you can’t get around that.”
Rivers acknowledged how much Harden can add to the team, but said they want to make sure he is healthy before getting him on the floor.
“Obviously, we don’t have him yet so we have to wait and see,” Rivers said. “But he’s a guy that creates his own shot, creates shots for others. Another guy on your team that gets double-teamed, which is really valuable. When you have all that, you like it a lot.”
Harden seems like the perfect fit for Joel Embiid. He can get a bucket, finish isolation plays, take opponents off the dribble, and drain step-back three-pointers.
He is averaging 22.5 points and 10.2 assists this season, but shooting a career-low 33.2% from three-point range. This is also his lowest scoring average since the 2011-12 season, when he scored 16.8 points per game with Oklahoma City.
But with his addition, one can argue there is more outside pressure on Rivers to win a title with the Sixers. He doesn’t see it that way.
“Let me repeat this one more time - you and no one else can put no more pressure on myself than I do,” said Rivers, who won a 2008 title with the Celtics and has 1,024 career victories. “It will never happen. I’m in this to win. I’ve always been in this to win.
“When you make that decision, you understand there’s going to be pressure - and there should be. Because if it wasn’t, everyone would be champions. I think the reason we did this deal was so we could step into the fray.”