The Philadelphia 76ers made a few changes to their rotation in the 2022-23 season as they brought in PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr. in free agency and they also made a draft night trade for De’Anthony Melton.
Those moves are expected to add to Philadelphia’s depth, help them grow as a team, and rebuild the supporting cast around Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey. All three additions have been in winning situations and can help Philadelphia in this current situation.
In an early power rankings list done by NBC Sports, the new look Sixers come in ranked 6th ahead of the 2022-23 campaign:
James Harden is taking less money to win — exactly how much less is TBD — and Daryl Morey used that spending cash well to bring in P.J. Tucker, Danuel House and trade for De’Anthony Melton. With Tyrese Maxey ready to take another step forward, this team has all the role players needed to contend — it now falls on Joel Embiid and Harden to show they can be the two superstars on a title team. Not worried about Embiid being able to do that (if he can stay healthy), but Harden? The playoff pressure to perform will fall on him.
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There will certainly be a ton of pressure on Harden as he is on a 1+1 deal and he can opt out again in the summer of 2023 and look for more money. If he performs the way he’s very capable of, then he should be fine, but a lot of it will come down to what he does in the postseason and whether he can guide the Sixers even further into the playoffs.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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