How Sixers learned of James Harden trade and what they’re doing to move forward: ‘I almost didn’t believe it’

Nick Nurse accidentally slept through the 2 a.m. phone call.

Tyrese Maxey was watching the Lakers-Magic game while getting ready for bed.

De’Anthony Melton was in the middle of a “very intense” UFC video game match when he received the notification on his phone, then double-checked that the news was legitimate because “nowadays, there’s so many fake accounts out there.”

“I almost didn’t believe it,” Melton recalled Tuesday afternoon. “… I had to go click on Woj [ESPN news-breaker Adrian Wojnarowski’s account]. I had to go make sure the followers and stuff matched up.”

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News had just popped in the overnight hours that, after a four-month-long saga, the 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers had finally agreed to terms on a James Harden trade. The timing was unusual, but the result was something for which the Sixers had prepared. And though that resolution brings more clarity to a 2-1 team entering November, Nurse and those players downplayed the sense of mental or emotional relief felt at practice the following afternoon.

“Honestly, man, we’re just trying to move forward, trying to get to the next day,” said Maxey, who was named Eastern Conference player of the week for his stellar first three games. “Whatever happens, happens, and we move on.”

Nurse, the Sixers’ first-year coach, was particularly careful to attach any comments about the Harden trade with the caveat that the deal was not yet official when he spoke Tuesday afternoon. Yet Nurse did share that he began practice by complimenting his players on “the level of work and spirit, and concentrating [on] between the lines” throughout the Harden conundrum that began with a late-June trade request upon exercising the $35.6 million player option in his contract for the 2023-24 season.

Those qualities have been illustrated during the Sixers’ first three games: a one-point loss at the Milwaukee Bucks, followed by wins at the Toronto Raptors and at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on back-to-back nights. Maxey is averaging 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists this season as the primary ballhandler, while reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid totaled 35 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and six blocks Sunday against the rebuilding Blazers.

Following Nurse’s Tuesday pre-practice address, the Sixers went through a standard team session that focused on offense organization, “get-back” transition drills, and scrimmaging, Maxey said. Their next game is a Thursday rematch against the Raptors.

That has been the overall approach since training camp began earlier this month, when Harden was a sporadic attendee or participant in team activities. He missed the Sixers’ first practice in Fort Collins, Colo., and never played in a preseason game. He spent about 10 days away from the team, then returned to Philly the day before the opener in Milwaukee, but did not accompany the Sixers on that first road trip. He joined his teammates on the bench for Sunday’s win against Portland and was expected to practice Tuesday before the deal was agreed upon that will also send P.J. Tucker and Filip Petrušev to the Clippers and bring Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, KJ Martin, and draft capital to the Sixers.

That yo-yo is why Nurse said he has “been in that mode” of preparing to play without Harden “for a while.” Melton took things a step further, saying Tuesday that he believed the trade was “something we needed to do for this team.”

“[Harden] emphasized what his desires were,” said Melton, who has stepped in as a starting guard. “I would think, as an organization, we’ve got to do what’s best for us. We waited it out to see what was out there. Ultimately, hopefully, we got what we wanted. We got players back, and we’re ready to suit up with whoever.”

Nurse said he will continue to lean on his experience coaching in the G League, where rosters regularly fluctuate, to integrate new players once the trade is finalized. The coach declined to take a longer view when asked about how the Sixers can use the acquired assets to trade for another star-caliber player or take advantage of max cap space in free agency next summer. And Nurse reiterated that he did not find the outside attention on the Harden uncertainty overly burdensome.

“Other than spending a few minutes a day answering questions about it,” Nurse said, “or having a few meetings maybe that I wouldn’t have about it here and there, it really wasn’t that cumbersome or bothersome or taxing for me. I’m super excited to see what this group can do, and that’s what we’ve poured a lot of our energies into.”

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Maxey and Melton were complimentary of their time as Harden’s teammate. Melton said Harden’s “exceptional” passing — he led the NBA with 10.7 assists per game last season — taught him about court vision and controlling the game. Maxey said he sent Harden a text message saying he loved and appreciated him.

“I’ve always been a confident person, but he made me be even more confident than I already was,” Maxey said of Harden.

Yet when asked if he felt any disappointment that things did not work out with Harden and the Sixers, Maxey said: “Life happens. Stuff happens. Things happen.”

“Right now this team is really just focusing on who’s here in the building,” Maxey added, “and that’s been the best thing that we can possibly do.”