MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.–The Philadelphia 76ers knew they acquired an elite scorer in James Harden, but what some might not have known about is his ability to pass and make plays for others.
Harden averages 22.5 points and 10.2 assists on the season along with 8.0 rebounds in the 2021-22 season. He is known for his ruthless scoring ability, but he is able to get his teammates involved in a big way and the Sixers experienced that at practice on Thursday in Minnesota.
“We know he can score, he’s always gonna get downhill, but guys got the ball a lot more than they thought,” said coach Doc Rivers. “They were wide-open and that was pretty good.”
Harden may not get enough credit for his passing so much so that he might be categorized as an underrated passer.
“For sure and his rebounding,” said Danny Green. “People forget that he does get triple-doubles quite a lot. He’s not just a guy that scores and shoots the ball, he’s very active on the floor getting rebounds, finding guys. Once he stays locked in on his effort, I think he’s gonna be great for us.”
Now, the Sixers will be able to find more open looks for their shooters. Guys like Furkan Korkmaz and Tobias Harris as well as Green should be able to flourish playing next to Harden as a guy who will get them involved on a regular basis.
“He’s a great passer, I think everyone knows that, but I think when you play with him, you see it more,” Rivers added. “I think Tobias and Furk today (Thursday), when they were running stuff with him, were wide-open and they were surprised by it.”
A guy like Korkmaz should be able to benefit greatly playing next to Harden, especially. He has had to handle the ball a lot in the 2021-22 season as the Sixers needed a point guard and his 3-point shooting has taken a huge hit.
“I think it’ll help him,” Rivers said of Harden’s presence. “I don’t think it’ll hurt him. Furk’s not a point guard so now Furk can go back to what he does and he did that today a lot. We played Furk with that unit today, Furk benefitted probably as much as anybody on the team.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!