James Harden debut: All-Star guard to play Friday night vs Timberwolves

James Harden will make his Philadelphia 76ers debut on Friday vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports. Harden was traded to the 76ers two weeks ago, but was dealing with a hamstring injury at the time that kept him out of his final games with the Brooklyn Nets. With the All-Star break in the rearview mirror, Harden has seemingly recovered and will join the team for the stretch run. 

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JAMES HARDEN DEBUT WILL BE CRUCIAL FOR 76ERS

Philadelphia currently sits 2.5 games out of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference despite playing the entire season without Ben Simmons, who was sitting out in the hopes of securing a trade. He finally got one, and now a 76ers team that was already near the top of the standings essentially replaces Seth Curry and Andre Drummond with a former MVP in Harden.

Friday’s game against the Timberwolves will give us our first glimpse into how the new-look 76ers will fare with a drastically different roster. Harden’s fit with Joel Embiid should eventually be solid, but there are questions the team needs to answer before the playoffs begin in April. 

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Harden is used to playing with lob threats at center. How will he adjust to Embiid, a dominant post-up scorer? Can he survive in Philadelphia’s more traditional defensive structure? Or will Embiid need to adjust to the switching style that Harden’s teams have preferred.

For now, there is no indication yet when Brooklyn’s revamped lineup will take the floor. Both Simmons and Kevin Durant are working their way back onto the court, but it appears as though Harden will be the first of this blockbuster’s principals to take the floor for their new team. Harden is the isolation scorer the 76ers have spent years searching for, and on Friday, their years-long plan finally comes to fruition.