"Philly Was My First Choice": Harden Speaks About Trade For First Time

James Harden got his wish. He's a Philadelphia 76er now. But the way he tells it, this would have happened over a year ago, when he was pushing his way out of Houston.

"Originally, when I was going through everything I was going through in Houston, Philly was my first choice. It just didn't happen... I just knew for a very long time this was a perfect fit."

As for what happened in Brooklyn, those are "details I don't really want to get into... I'm just blessed that I'm here (in Philadelphia)... and everybody wants to be the last team standing. So I'm excited for the opportunity."

He called it, in fact, "the opportunity of a lifetime."

How Harden's ball-dominant iso-style will mesh with Joel Embiid, who is having an MVP-caliber season as a ball-dominant big man, remains to be seen.

"We're both at a high level to where we'll figure it out," said Harden. But can they win it all this season? "Hell yeah."

The Beard feels, that overall, the fit is a good one for him. "I’m in a place where I can be the best James Harden I can be on the court... Everybody knows their role... so for me, I just gotta go out there and do what I do. So my job is pretty easy."

Then, finally, the "other" new Sixer coming from the Nets, Paul Millsap got a question, and got lots of laughs for his response.

It took a while, but Paul Millsap finally got his first question 😅

(via @NBCSPhilly) pic.twitter.com/ZuKG0ReHFg
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 15, 2022