CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers were finally able to come to an agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers in the early morning hours Tuesday on the James Harden trade. It’s what he wanted, and the Sixers found a package they liked as far as the return value.
The trade happened around 2 a.m. EDT. Some guys were still awake, however, and to them ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski report seemed a bit surreal.
“I almost didn’t believe it,” laughed De’Anthony Melton. “Nowadays, there’s so many fake accounts out there that like I had to go click on Woj, I had to make sure the followers and stuff matched up so yeah that’s when I first saw the news.”
The assumption surrounding all of this is there is a bit of a relief now that Harden is gone. The Sixers can now move on, but Melton and the Sixers don’t view it that way. It was just something that had to happen.
“I wouldn’t say necessarily that,” said Melton. “I feel like it was something we needed to do for this team. I think he emphasized what his desires were and I think as an organization, we got to do what’s best for us. So, I felt like we waited it out to see what was out there and ultimately, hopefully we got what we wanted and we got players back and we’re ready to suit up with whoever.”
Harden is an obvious Hall of Famer. Despite his antics off the court in his career, he is one helluva basketball player. Melton took a great many lessons from his one season playing with The Beard, including his ability to have an undeniable impact on the game without scoring the ball.
“Just his feel for the game and his vision,” Melton marveled. “James is an exceptional—obviously, we all know him for his exceptional scoring, but he’s also a very exceptional passer, and I think just the way he would find guys, get people open, and sometimes the way he will see the floor, I think, is what I picked from him, and just how to control the game sometimes.”
With Harden gone, the Sixers move on without that weight around the organization. It can almost be a breath of fresh air as the attention turns to hosting the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
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