The Philadelphia 76ers made a huge move on Thursday as they acquired James Harden. Big name, right? A former league MVP, an easy bucket, a playmaker, and a guy who instantly makes the Sixers title contenders with Joel Embiid.
While Harden is the obvious big name in this deal, the Sixers also got a solid veteran in the form of Paul Millsap in the deal with the Brooklyn Nets. Millsap is a 4-time All-Star in his own right, but the 16-year veteran has not played since Dec. 27 as the Nets and Millsap agreed that it was best for him to sit out while they find a new home for him.
Millsap has been to the conference finals three times with three separate teams, the Utah Jazz, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Denver Nuggets, and he will look to bring that to Philadelphia now. He has career averages of 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds.
“We can use him,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We want to see him. I told him on the phone, if we use him, it’ll be at the 5 because I think that’s where he’s at and I just think a vet, high, high, high character guy is never bad to put in your locker room.”
Millsap is obviously not the All-Star player he used to be, but he is still a useful veteran who can help in short spurts and he is a guy who can bring a voice to the locker room. Millsap will be helpful as a calming influence for this team.
With that being said, Rivers is unsure when both Millsap and Harden will be here with the team.
“Paul’s been in Atlanta working out,” Rivers added. “For us, I got to just see them. Once they come in, we’ll do something and we’ll make decisions. I don’t want to put either one of them out there until they are really ready. I just don’t want to go down that rabbit hole of injury and stuff.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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