December 12, 2024
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Can James Harden shoulder the load for the Los Angeles Clippers all year long?
As the Sixers continue their unusual, four-day December layoff amid a stretch of three games in the span of 13 days, now seems like as good of a time as ever to check in on some old friends. How are these recent former Sixers doing in their new homes?
Harden continues to carry such a significant workload for the Clippers that it has both earned him plenty of praise nationally and called into question the sustainability of the current arrangement. In 33.9 minutes per game, Harden is averaging 21.6 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. With Kawhi Leonard still sidelined and Paul George now in Philadelphia, Harden has been at the center of everything Clippers head coach Ty Lue has planned.
JAMES HARDEN PASSES RAY ALLEN 👌
— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2024
2nd all-time in made threes for The Beard! pic.twitter.com/dK5j6fmQEX
Even with Harden's efficiency from the field in the tank — his 37.9 field goal percentage is undesirable — he is posting a 55.6 true shooting percentage, near league average, because he still gets to the free throw line at will and connects when he is there. Winners of 14 of their first 25 games, the Clippers have massively outperformed expectations for a Leonard-less version of their team. Players like Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac deserve credit for helping keep things afloat, but Harden has showed that even at 35 years old with diminished athleticism he can still raise a team's floor significantly.
Batum, who called his decision to return to the Clippers this summer despite significant interest from the Sixers in a reunion 'nothing against the Sixers,' has settled into a fitting role for Lue and the Clippers. He is not collecting many counting stats to write home about in 18.0 minutes per game, as expected. His 35.9 three-point percentage is a bit lower than his typical marks in recent years, though, and at only 0.9 steals per 100 possessions, Batum has been less capable as a defensive playmaker in a small sample size.
Still, the value of Batum always stems from things that cannot be quantified: his ability to always be in the right spot on both ends of the floor and avoid mistakes, the subtle aspects of his game which endeared him to Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and his excellence as a connector.
Even after departing Philadelphia, Batum gave the Sixers quite a bit of help. It came in the form of a rave review to 28-year-old free agent Guerschon Yabusele, who told PhillyVoice in November that Batum raving about Philadelphia and the Sixers played a role in his decision to join the Sixers. Yabusele, who signed a veteran's minimum contract with the Sixers, looks like one of the steals of the summer as a quality two-way rotation player at multiple positions.
"I'm happy for him," Batum said last month. "He deserved it. He deserved a second chance in this league. He's showing it right now: he belongs in this league."
MORE:Â Batum and Yabusele talk special bond: 'He earned a chance to be back in the league'
Melton, a favorite in the locker room during his two years with the Sixers, simply cannot catch a break. Significant back ailments derailed the end of his time with the Sixers, harming his free agent market quite a bit after he had finally completed a four-year deal well below his market value. Melton had to settle with a one-year, $12.8 million deal with Golden State, but the contract had upside: the Warriors represented an obvious, terrific fit for Melton on the floor, and gave him an opportunity to play significant minutes on a team in the national spotlight, then go fetch a significant multi-year deal the following summer.
Melton played well during his first six games of the year, averaging S10.3 points per game and shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range on 5.8 three-point attempts per game. Melton worked his way into the starting backcourt alongside Stephen Curry. And then disaster struck: an ACL injury which required season-ending surgery.
Not only did the injury rob Melton of any chance to rebuild his value across the league, but it may actually prevent an eventual return to Golden State. According to several reports, the Warriors are now expected to attempt to use Melton's expiring contract to facilitate a trade for a player who can help them win games this year. Such a move would cost them Melton's Bird rights, potentially taking his strongest suitor out of the market.
Hield was never going to perform for an entire season at the absurd level he did in the opening few weeks of 2024-25, but the veteran sharpshooter is still one of the strongest contenders for this year's Sixth Man of the Year Award. While Boston's Payton Pritchard is clearly leading that pack right now, Hield's 27 points and seven made threes in a big win on Sunday over the Minnesota Timberwolves was a strong way to break out of a slump. After averaging 21.9 points per game in his first seven appearances of the season, Hield has averaged 11.5 points per game in 17 contests since.
Still, Hield has strong numbers so far this year: 14.5 points per game while averaging 23.9 minutes in a deep Golden State rotation, along with a 42.6 three-point percentage on 7.6 long-range attempts per game.
As incentive to facilitate Hield's departure to Golden State on a three-year contract, the Sixers received the rights to the Dallas Mavericks' 2031 second-round pick. Had the sign-and-trade possibility not come to fruition, the Sixers would have been forced to renounce Hield and watch him leave in free agency for nothing; retaining Hield's Bird rights while also signing George was not possible.
MORE: Sixers Ties: Pacific Division
Harris' minutes per game in Detroit (32.5) is barely below his typical average during his time with the Sixers. He joined a young Pistons team that was apparently in need of a stable scorer to help its offense mature. Yet Harris is only averaging 14.1 points per game, fewer than he ever did as a Sixer. Harris' relative struggles from beyond the arc have played major part here — Harris' 34.3 three-point percentage would be his worst season-long clip since 2015-16 — but so has his inability to scale his offensive role upwards in the way the Sixers often expressed he was capable of doing.
Still, Detroit has probably exceeded expectations with 10 wins in its first 25 games (a 10-15 record does not sound all that impressive until one remembers they went 14-68 last season). Harris' general competence has certainly helped the Pistons to some degree, though likely not enough to justify the two-year, $52 million contract he was given in July. Detroit had an enormous amount of cap space available, so perhaps it will not actually burn them.
"For me, it was a great experience," Harris said of his lengthy Sixers tenure during his return to Philadelphia in October. "I can truthfully say that because it helped me grow in so many different elements of my life."
MORE: Harris, Paul Reed reflect on Sixers tenures
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