CHARLESTON, S.C. — Can James Harden get back to being his old self?
That’s undoubtedly the biggest question surrounding the 76ers this preseason. Folks want to know if last season’s shooting woes and his lack of explosiveness were the result of his hamstring injury or simply Father Time.
People want to know if Harden has elevated his game several levels from what he showed as a Sixer last season or if they should adjust their expectations.
The expectation when Harden arrived in Philadelphia was that he would be an elite scorer to complement Joel Embiid. However, Harden turned out to be more of a reliable facilitator who often struggled to shoot the ball and score.
The Sixers will tell you that Harden has regained some of his explosiveness.
“He looked great today,” coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday after the first day of training camp at The Citadel. “But, honestly, today I didn’t try to use him very often. He was just really trying to run the team almost to a fault at times. But we are cool with that right now.”
Sixers free-agent acquisition Danuel House Jr., who played with Harden for two-plus seasons in Houston, agreed that his friend looked explosive on Tuesday.
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” House said. “Like I said [at Monday’s media day], you are going to be impressed with what he did this offseason.
“So it was just Day 1, he ran. Look at him, he’s over there [on a far court after practice]. ... My man is getting extra shots up. So I think 100 percent today: He led, guide, listen, direct, doing what leaders do.”
Harden, who turned 33 on Aug. 26, worked hard this offseason to get his body close to where it was during his days as a three-time scoring champion with the Rockets. Harden, the league MVP in 2018, also shed some weight over the summer.
Harden also acknowledged Monday that he wasn’t healthy enough over the last year and a half to put in the proper work that he’s used to. Harden said this summer was huge from that standpoint.
There are videos of him of him participating in open scrimmages against NBA and overseas professional players. For the most part, he’s getting to his spot, knocking down shots, and dishing out assists against overmatched defenders.
However, he didn’t have the same success in one particular video while being guarded by Toronto Raptors rookie of the year Scottie Barnes. Harden was locked down by Barnes and ended one possession with an errant shot attempt. On another possession, Harden drove past Barnes only to have his layup blocked from behind by the young Raptor.
It’s hard to get a true depiction of a workout from an edited video clip of a few possessions. But after watching it, some may wonder if Harden can return to being a legitimate scoring threat against elite NBA defenders.
We’ll find out at the start of the season.
The Sixers open in Boston against the Celtics on Oct. 18. Then they’ll entertain the Milwaukee Bucks two nights later at the Wells Fargo Center. After home games against the San Antonio Spurs (Oct. 22) and Indiana Pacers (Oct. 24), they’ll have a two-game series against Barnes and the Raptors in Toronto on Oct. 26 and 28.
There’s nothing wrong with being a solid facilitator, especially for someone who was second in the NBA with 10.3 assists per game last season.
The problem is that the Sixers need Harden to be a scoring threat if they hope to go far in the postseason. They need someone to take the pressure off Embiid and free up things for rising star Tyrese Maxey.
But Rivers doesn’t expect Harden to transform back into the 30-plus-point scorer from his time with the Rockets.
“If you start judging him, why he averaged 30 at Houston but he’s only averaging 20 here, that’s insane,” Rivers said. “We have a lot of guys that can score. At Houston, he had to score all the time. Here, the No. 1 option is Joel, all right?
“James has never been a second option. Tyrese is a major option for us. Tobias [Harris] is an option for us. So, yeah, he doesn’t have to shoot as much.”
But realizing that Harden’s skills were diminished, the Raptors welcomed him to shoot while shutting down his passing lanes in last season’s first-round playoff series.
Teams are definitely going to use that blueprint if Harden continues to struggle with shooting and getting past defenders.
It’s still early, but there were no concerns following Tuesday’s initial training-camp practice.
“He looked good,” said De’Anthony Melton, who was acquired in a draft-night trade from the Memphis Grizzlies. “Him running the one and me being the first time in practice ... I get to see how he processes stuff, and it’s important for me play off him and play with him.
“James is going to be James. He’s always going to look very good. Nobody is too worried about him here.”
