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Harden said over the summer that he never
wanted to play for 76ers president of basketball operations
Daryl Morey and called the executive a liar. Despite his strong
comments, Harden has joined his teammates at camp in Fort
Collins, Colo.
This is the second time in three years one of the team's guards
has been disgruntled. Two years ago, Ben Simmons wanted out and
eventually got his wish when he was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets
for Harden in a multi-player trade.
"I think this group is a little different than a couple years
ago," said Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP. "(We have) a new
coaching staff and everything that's going on. I think, you
know, it's been easy (to focus). I don't think anybody has been
distracted."
Harden made his comments about Morey after the 76ers said they
were no longer pursuing trade offers for the three-time scoring
champion this past summer. The 34-year-old guard picked up his
$35.6 million player option in June with the team reportedly
seeking to trade him.
Last season, Harden averaged an NBA-best 10.7 assists to go
along with 21.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in 58 games. But he
struggled with consistency in the playoffs, especially during
the 76ers' seven-game series against the Boston Celtics.
Harden scored 45 points in Philadelphia's Game 1 victory but
combined to score 28 points in the 76ers' losses in Games 2 and
3. He rebounded to score 42 in the 76ers' Game 4 win but scored
a combined 39 points in the final three games as the Celtics won
in a blowout in Game 7.
Despite Harden's playoff inconsistency and comments this summer,
Embiid hasn't lost faith in the star guard.
"So I think he's been working on his game all summer and he's
done a great job," Embiid said. "He's got a long way to go.
There's going to be a lot of challenges along the way. It's all
about staying positive, especially because when you play
different teams and different schemes and you have to figure it
out on the fly, that's hard. But we're here to help him."
--Field Level Media
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