The only confusing thing about the Sixers’ biggest playoff question is how to phrase it. To contend for a title, they need the old James Harden and not the Old James Harden. The former version, not the elder. They need the guy they attempted to trade for in January of 2021 instead of the guy they ended up trading for in February of 2022.
Can they win a title with the second guy at some point? Sure. Can they do it this year, with this team? Highly doubtful.
All of this leads us to the big unknown: How much can we realistically expect to change in a week? The Sixers will enter Saturday’s playoff opener against the Raptors with a 65-game sample that says that Harden is no longer the automatic bucket he was during his nine seasons in Houston.
