Watch: Despite Setting Trade Drama Aside, James Harden Benched on Return to Philadelphia

James Harden is back in Philadelphia after his 10 days of excused absence. Though he wanted to dive into action right away, the team management had other instructions for him. In fact, James was not even allowed to travel with the team to Milwaukee for the season opener. For the first home game, against Portland, James was available, yet the coach Nick Nurse wants to see more from him.

With James Harden still on the bench, and wanting to get traded, what is the next move for Daryl Morey? And is there a light at the end of the tunnel in this logjam?

James Harden in street clothes.

In the below video, we get to see James Harden sharing a moment with P J Tucker. He was all smiles with Tucker, who was his teammate from his Houston Rocket days. But when would he make his season debut for Philly? Or will he get traded soon, because of which he is not getting to play for the Sixers?

Though we want to read too much between the lines, the Sixers are doing the right thing for James Harden. The ex-MVP, who has been durable for the most part of his career, has had some injuries that began to plague him from his stint with Brooklyn. He had a major problem with his hamstring injury, which lingered on for a long time. So, it is only prudent for Nick Nurse to make sure that James Harden was in game shape regarding his strength and conditioning to unleash him on the court.

In the media interaction, Nick Nurse has said that James Harden took part in the film session, and was also ramping up his practice to be ready for live action. Thus, if all goes well, we might get to see James play against the Raptors this week.

A bright start to the season.

For the large part of the off-season, the Sixers were embroiled in the Harden drama. Thus, even a bad game against the Bucks wouldn’t have brought on a bad rap to them. Not for this Nick Nurse team, they put on a show at Milwaukee, which was a one point loss. The likes of Kelly Oubre Jr., Tobias Harris, and Tyrese Maxey went all in with their MVP, Joel Embiid, and almost won the game.

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If James Harden and the Sixers come together for this season, they can indeed compete with the best of the best. And that can even change the narrative about James, who is on his third team in 3 years.

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