5 players Sixers could acquire in Harden deal to stay competitive

No. 1 player 76ers could acquire in Harden trade: Jrue Holiday

Very rarely do top-tier contenders in the same conference make foundational trades with one another. The Sixers don’t want to help the Bucks’ championship pursuit; the Bucks don’t want to help Philadelphia out of a tight spot. And yet, there’s merit to swapping James Harden and Jrue Holiday.

For the Bucks, Harden alleviates concerns tied to the limited shooting and shot creation in the backcourt. Holiday has developed into a prolific facilitator, but he doesn’t shoot a ton of 3s and he can get ice-cold in the playoffs. Harden demands more defensive attention on the perimeter and he draws double teams on every drive to the cup. He’s a master set-up artist and he would develop fast pick-and-roll chemistry with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

For the Sixers, it’s hard to imagine a better player than Holiday coming over in the Harden trade. The Bucks are clearly panicking after losing in the first round — they even fired Mike Budenholzer, one of the winningest coaches of the last decade. Morey could capitalize and deliver Philadelphia a true star guard in return.

Holiday obviously cannot measure up to Harden offensively, but he’s a genuine floor general who can set the table and deliver on-time, on-target passes to his teammates. Philadelphia’s roster has precious few good passers; Harden’s really the only one. Holiday would fill that void. He averaged 19.3 points and 7.4 assists on 58.6 TS% last season, enough to earn him the second All-Star appearance of his career. He’s no scrub.

That said, the primary appeal with Holiday has always been the defense. He might be the best perimeter defender in the entire NBA. His strength at the point of attack is supernatural and his anticipation skills are preternatural. He can mirror ball-handlers of any size and he regularly generates turnovers with his activity level. Given Maxey’s small stature and defensive limitations, adding a guard defender like Holiday would be quite helpful.