Latest James Harden-76ers Update Means Good News For Celtics

The 76ers are lending the Celtics an unintentional helping hand, outside of being Boston’s annual punching bag in the Eastern Conference — all thanks to disgruntled Philadelphia guard James Harden.

With preseason action underway and less than two weeks before Opening Night, the 76ers have some in-house conflict to resolve, presumably through trading Harden away. The All-Star’s faith in Philadelphia’s front office has dimmed, dragging Harden’s relationship with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey to turmoil.

From the sounds of it, nothing’s changed and the clock is still ticking.

“Me and the front office had a very, very good relationship for a decade,” Harden said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “There was constant communication, you know what I mean? There was no communication once we lost.”

Harden added: “When you lose trust in someone it’s like a marriage. … You lose trust in someone, you know what I mean? It’s pretty simple.”

So… a dysfunctional 76ers team with a forced hand from one of their best players? That’s like music to Boston’s ears, isn’t it?

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Anything bad news for Philadelphia is good news for Boston, but the Harden developments especially are great for the Celtics.

Obviously, Harden’s expected departure from the 76ers removes a perennial once-superstar from one of Boston’s rival teams, but there’s more to it. Another layer that, in the long run, could prove to help the Celtics and potentially put the nail in the coffin of Philadelphia’s “Trust the Process” era.

“I just want to win a championship. Whatever it takes,” 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid told Maverick Carter during an Uninterrupted Sports Film Festival in July, per ESPN. “I don’t know where that’s gonna be, whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else, I just want to have a chance to accomplish that. I want to see what it feels like to win that first one, and then you think about the next one. It’s not easy, but it takes more than one or two, three guys. You got to have good people around you, and myself, every single day, I work hard to be at that level so I can make it happen. So, every single day, I’m working towards that.”

No explanation is required for the bonus of seeing less Embiid.

If the 76ers can’t build a title-contending team around Embiid, then maybe Philadelphia needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario: Watching Embiid take his talents elsewhere in search of what the 76ers have failed to provide.

Again, not bad for the Celtics.