The Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets will have some connections for a little while into the future after Philadelphia hired former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. He will run the basketball operations for the Sixers and there have already been reported interest in a James Harden trade.
There is something that the two teams have in common and that is the fact that they both have dynamic star duos. Philadelphia is led by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons while the Rockets are led by Harden and Russell Westbrook. Houston’s duo has had a lot of individual success and they made the NBA Finals while they were with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012.
With Morey being in the connection for these two teams, ESPN’s First Take crew decided to debate about which duo is better? Embiid and Simmons or Harden and Westbrook?
Max Kellerman stated:
If I’m a GM coming into a situation. Give me Embiid and Simmons. Give me a seven foot plus player who does all the things, a classically great center has done traditionally plus can shoot better than most of them right from the outside, and as a defensive monster. Then give me the point guard, who’s kind of like a poor man’s LeBron James with a better handle, no shot, obviously, but who does all the things that Daryl Morey wants you to do other than shoot. He’s created more open looks from three than any player since he’s gotten into the league which is his job as a point guard, and then otherwise all his shots come in the paint which is the highest percentage shot, right? So in fact, he is an analytics type of player, but also does things like play, I thought he was the best defensive player in basketball went healthy this past season, and who knows what he could do if they designed a team around him the way in the walk, he designed a team around it like Antetokounmpo, maybe even better. So if I’m a GM looking at like what situation do I want to walk into. Yeah, give me Embiid and Simmons. Absolutely.
Kendrick Perkins then fired back with this as he would take Houston’s duo:
The question was who is the better duo and right now, it’s Russell Westbrook and James Harden! The H-Town Brodie’s. You’re going to have to start putting some respect on both of these guys names. James Harden, you talking about a guy who has been leading the league of scoring, a walking bucket. One of the best scores of all time in my eyes I’ve seen walk the planet earth and Russell Westbrook, he was having one of the best seasons of his career this year and shooting 47% from the field. The Houston Rockets were the talk of the NBA before the pandemic hit. Both of those guys were playing at an elite level, the only duo that I was taking over them, that I’m still taking over them is Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Both duos are top players in this league, but at this point in time, Simmons and Embiid are probably the best option to build a team with. Simmons is only 24-years old while Embiid is 26 and that will tilt the matchup in their favor for the future. As of right now, yes, Harden is the elite scorer in the league, but both he and Westbrook are on the wrong side of 30 and they won’t be as dynamic for much longer. [lawrence-related id=38867,38863,38828]