3 reasons why the Sixers shouldn’t trade Ben Simmons for James Harden

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid deserve a chance to make things work

“Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid can’t win together.”

You’ve heard that before, and there’s a chance you’ve said it too. And to be fair, to this point in time, they haven’t proven it wrong. Their best chance so far was dashed by a bouncing ball on a rim in Toronto, and they followed it up with an injury-plagued, uninspired season a year ago.

Simmons was hurt going into the playoffs against the Boston Celtics, but they ended up in the sixth seed with him healthy for much of the year anyway, so it’s absolutely no excuse.

However, last season they were saddled with a roster that made less sense than perhaps any quasi-contender we’ve seen in the NBA’s recent history. Al Horford was jammed into the frontcourt alongside Embiid and Tobias Harris, and Simmons and Josh Richardson weren’t able to provide spacing.

Now Horford is gone, and the Sixers have shooters in his place. Horford can’t be blamed for the problems, it’s a team-building issue that should fall on general manager Elton Brand’s shoulders, but he was certainly one of the victims of a badly constructed roster.

So far Morey has indicated that he doesn’t want to trade either of his two young stars. Hopefully, that’s not lip service, because the Sixers do need to see how things play out with their new surrounding cast.