November 03, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
James Harden is set to face the Sixers for the second time since his trade demand led to a move to the Los Angeles Clippers.
For the first time in 2024-25, the Sixers are shifting time zones: they will spend the upcoming week on the West Coast, where they play three games that figure to be competitive.
Per the usual, on the morning of each game we will have team-specific previews of each Sixers game. But here is some handy information about the week ahead for the Sixers:
It remains to be seen if Paul George will make his Sixers regular season debut in Phoenix. If he does, there will likely be no easing in for the nine-time All-Star. Not only are the Suns a formidable opponent, but they have three high-powered perimeter scoring threats — Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — which means the Sixers will need to start three players they can trust to handle difficult defensive assignments.
Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr. are safe bets to take on two of those matchups, which means one more Sixer must prepare for a long night on the defensive end of the floor. In an ideal world, George would be able to guard a low-usage player in his first game back as he tries to find a groove without any stressful matchups. A debut against the Suns might stand in the way of that.
The city of Phoenix has not been kind to the Sixers in quite some time: the last time they won a game there came on Jan. 2, 2019. The Sixers' starting five that night was made up of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Furkan Korkmaz (!), Jonah Bolden (!!) and the current head coach of their third and final opponent this week.
This will be the first meeting between these two teams to take place at the Clippers' brand new home, the Intuit Dome, but there will be plenty of familiar faces — on both sides. The list of players who could be suiting up against their former teams:
• Paul George, who spent five years with the Clippers before departing for Philadelphia last summer.
• KJ Martin, who logged a whole two games as a Clipper in between being traded to Los Angeles and then getting rerouted to the Sixers.
• Eric Gordon, who spent the first three years of his NBA career — 2008 through 2011 — with the Clippers, and then spent the final months of the 2022-23 season with them as well.
• Reggie Jackson, who spent parts of four seasons with the Clippers — reviving his career from 2019 through 2023 — before spending a year and change with the Denver Nuggets and eventually heading to the Sixers to team with which he reunited with an old friend in George.
• James Harden, whose messy departure from Philadelphia was well-documented and has now taken total control of the Clippers' offense with George gone and Kawhi Leonard sidelined indefinitely.
• Nic Batum, who also revived his career with the Clippers, spending three full seasons with the team before being traded to the Sixers after three appearances in his fourth season in Los Angeles. Batum finished last season with the Sixers, became a free agent and took a below-market deal to return to the Clippers.
• Mo Bamba, who made 57 appearances and 17 starts for the Sixers as a third-string center last season. Bamba signed with the Clippers over the summer with a pathway to being their backup center, but has not yet played for the team due to an injury. That has created an opportunity for someone else...
• Anyone who remembers the Sixers tenure of Kai Jones deserves a prize — and maybe a therapy session, too. Jones, who inked a 10-day contract with the Sixers last season, never appeared in a game for the team. He received a training camp deal with the Clippers and showed enough in preseason to earn a two-way contract. He has been the team's primary backup center with Bamba sidelined.
I cannot remember the Sixers facing so many former Sixers at once — let alone also having the same amount of players who used to play for the opposition.
MORE: Draft picks Sixers acquired from Clips in Harden trade proving valuable
Fair or not, Sixers rookie Jared McCain will be compared by many of his skeptics to Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht, who has opened the young season as Redick's ninth man. The Sixers drafted McCain at No. 16 overall in last June's NBA Draft despite Knecht's stunning fall; one pick later the Lakers nabbed him. Knecht was viewed as one of the most NBA-ready prospects in his draft class and boasts similar shooting excellence as McCain. He will be 24 years old by the time the regular season ends, though, and many front offices stray away from such old prospects these days.
In other news, former Sixers shooting guard JJ Redick is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world! Redick appears to be off to a strong start, as a Lakers team notorious for early-season struggles finally bucked that trend and picked up some early wins. Anthony Davis looks absolutely outstanding right now, and Redick has said the team is being very intentional about giving him every opportunity to assert himself as a dominant force on both ends of the floor.
MORE: Sixers Ties: Pacific Division
Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice
