James Harden participates fully in practice on the Sixers’ final day of training camp
Friday was Harden's third day with the Sixers, and he still has yet to scrimmage with them. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid is loving the new free-flowing offense head coach Nick Nurse is implementing.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — James Harden was a full participant at practice on Friday, on a day Kelly Oubre flashed his confidence for the media.
The 76ers concluded training camp at Colorado State University with Harden competing in all drills. However, the Sixers didn’t scrimmage, and Harden has yet to partake one in since ending his holdout Wednesday.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said he doesn’t know if Harden will play in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Celtics at TD Garden.
“I think we still got a number of people that we’re trying to ramp up to get to Sunday,” Nurse said. “So I don’t know how that will go yet.”
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The Sixers flew to Boston following Friday’s practice and will have a “hardworking, physical” practice Saturday.
“So we’ll have to see how everybody comes out after that,” Nurse said, “and see where we are.”
Harden looked good in post-practice shooting drills with Tyrese Maxey. He also worked out and ran the arena stairs.
This was Harden’s third day with the Sixers after missing Monday’s media day and Tuesday’s first day of training camp. He’s upset that the Sixers failed to honor his trade request. Harden still seeks a trade, and his hometown Clippers are trying to put a package together to acquire him.
While Harden’s status with the team is uncertain, Oubre could have a big role in Philly this season.
So how does he see himself fitting in with the Sixers?
“I don’t see myself fitting in,” he said. “I see myself standing out. So that’s just what I want to do.”
Asked how he plans to stand out, Oubre responded, “You have to wait and see, man.”
He added that he’s in the moment now and can’t predict the future.
“But I’m just going to do everything coach tells me to do,” he said. “And I’m ready to go to war. So whatever you take out of that, that’s what you take.”
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The 6-foot-6 forward averaged a career-high 20.3 points last season with Charlotte. He said he’s ready to lock in on defense this season.
“Bring that bread and butter back to my game, continue to plant those seeds and allow them to grow,” he said. “Coach Nick has a great foundation for me to do so.
“I’m excited to get better, man. That’s what I want to do every single year. But I got to bring defense back first.”
The biggest takeaway from training camp has been the offensive changes under Nurse.
The Sixers primarily ran a two-man game with Joel Embiid and Harden under former coach Doc Rivers. The offense has been more free-flowing during training camp.
“I love it, and we all love it,” Embiid said. “I think this is the best way to win, and I’ve always believed that.
“I never like the idea of just being a scorer. I like to do everything on the basketball court.”
The 7-0, 280-pounder, who’s won the last two scoring titles, wants to be a playmaker. He wants to get his teammates involved in additional scoring.
“I want to get them open,” Embiid said.
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In addition to a free-flowing offense, the Sixers will incorporate positionless basketball. At times, Embiid will be paired on the court with 7-foot reserve center Mo Bamba. And, on occasion, a 6-9 reserve in Paul Reed will be paired with one of the two.
“I think it highlights a lot of what I can do on the floor,” said Bamba, a solid shot blocker and three-point shooter. “It’s just fun to play this style of basketball. I think everybody around the league kind of admired what Coach Nurse has built in Toronto as far as seeing guys 6-10-plus on the perimeter.
“Even when he had [6-foot point guard] Kyle Lowry, you saw Kyle Lowry post up. It’s fun. It’s a fun way of playing basketball. It gets the most out of everyone out there.”
The Sixers hired Nurse in May after 10 seasons with the Raptors, the last five as their head coach.
Embiid realizes that it might take the team a while to adapt to the new style of play. But he believes they’ll be fine once they do.
“It’s fun playing that way with the ball moving side to side [with] everybody touching it,” he said. “That means everybody’s happy.
“And most importantly on the other end, everybody does their job because they’re seeing the ball and touching the ball.”