CAMDEN, N.J. — The 76ers’ path to getting past the second round of the NBA playoffs next year for the first time since 2001 seems pretty clear.
The core players on the 2021-22 roster will need to continue to improve during the offseason the way Tyrese Maxey did last summer and two-time MVP runner-up Joel Embiid has clearly done over the past two offseasons.
President of basketball operations Daryl Morey needs to upgrade the talent on this team, including the fifth starter and subpar bench, via the taxpayer mid-level exception ($6.4 million), minimum contracts and trades.
With Embiid (7-for-24 shooting) struggling and the Sixers desperately trying to stay close in Thursday’s 99-90 series-clinching loss to the Heat, Doc Rivers had little choice but to run reserve Shake Milton off of screens like he was the Suns’ Devin Booker because Milton was the only guy doing anything at the offensive end. Meanwhile, Harden missed his lone field goal attempt in the telling third quarter and took just two shots in the second half.
Harden explained his lack of shots in this curious manner: “The ball just didn’t get back to me.”
Yes, there’s value in Harden as a pass-first point guard. Getting the Sixers into their offense is important, though he has to make better decisions than he did while accumulating 28 assists to 21 turnovers in the last four games against Miami.
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Most of all, though, James Harden has to play more like James Harden, former league MVP, and less like Andre Miller because the Sixers don’t have enough reliable offensive weapons to win without Harden’s scoring.
Morey and the Sixers acquired Harden from the Nets in the blockbuster Ben Simmons deal Feb. 10 and he made his Philadelphia debut Feb. 25, so he had a little over 2½ months with his new team. While that’s a decent amount of time, having a full offseason, training camp, preseason and regular season should help Harden be better prepared for the 2022-23 playoffs.
“We’re excited about what he can bring,” said Morey during Friday’s year-end news conference at the team’s training facility. “We think with a full year with James, we can unlock what he brings to us.”
But unless Harden’s hamstring issue was still limiting his explosiveness during this postseason, it’s unclear how Harden is going to revert to his days as a high-level scorer when he’ll be 33 heading into next year.
Harden couldn’t beat defenders off the dribble the way he did earlier in his career, which limited the number of his easy baskets and decreased his free throw attempts from 8.3 in the regular season to 6.3 in the playoffs (none in Game 6).
“Look, he’s an incredibly talented player — just like Joel, just like Tobias (Harris),” Morey said. “We’ll figure out how to use him.”
It’s too early to compare Harden to Chris Webber, a former star the Sixers acquired from the Kings on the downside of his career in February 2005. Philly bought out the remainder of Webber’s contract less than two years later.
Morey first acquired Harden with the Rockets in October 2012. He believed Harden could be considerably more than a sixth man for the Thunder featuring Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and he was right.
Harden earned league MVP honors in 2017-18 and led the NBA in scoring three times, highlighted by a 36.1-point average the next season, which was the highest since Michael Jordan (37.1 in 1986-87).
That’s a long way from averaging 18.6 points in 12 playoff games as a Sixer.
I expect Harden to pick up his $47 million player option for 2022-23, but Morey cannot and won’t give him a maximum four-year, $223 million extension on top of that. Harden making more than $60 million as a 37-year-old is a scenario to avoid. I would pass on an extension until Harden proves he shows what he can do next season.
For the Sixers not to waste another year of Embiid’s prime, Harden must be more productive scorer than he was in the postseason. It remains to be seen if that’s a realistic possibility.
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly
