Doc Rivers Reveals James Harden's Fit With Sixers is Still a Work in Progress

The Philadelphia 76ers went through the first half of the season without an All-Star co-star to complement Joel Embiid. Although Embiid's high-caliber play helped the Sixers remain in the Eastern Conference playoff picture throughout the year, it was clear Philadelphia needed to upgrade as Ben Simmons refused to play for them.

A blockbuster move took longer than desired, but Daryl Morey and the Sixers' front office eventually flipped Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and picks into Paul Millsap and the ten-time All-Star guard, James Harden.

With Harden battling through a hamstring injury, the star guard didn't get the nod to play for the Sixers right away. After getting traded from Brooklyn to Philly, Harden sat out for four games and waited for the All-Star break to pass before making his debut.

Since making his Sixers debut, Harden appeared in 21 of the final 24 games of the regular season. Throughout that time, there have been some highs and certainly have been some lows. While averaging 37 minutes on the floor during that time, Harden has shot 40-percent from the field and 32-percent from three.

Over 21 games, Harden has averaged up 21 points per game, 10.5 assists, and 7.1 rebounds. Sometimes the Sixers looked like they had it all figured out in terms of fitting Harden in with the rest of the team in such a short amount of time. Other times, not so much.

Harden, Doc Rivers, and Joel Embiid have all pointed out during the regular season that time is against them and they still have a lot to work on and figure out before they make their postseason run. As the Sixers got a week to prepare for their first-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors, Philly's head coach offered the latest on Harden's progress with the Sixers going into the postseason.

Work To Do

“I think he’s getting it,” said Rivers, regarding Harden. “I don’t think any of us are there yet, but we’re working on it. We’re a work in progress. We know as a group we need work and things we need to work on. A lot of it is continuity, and a lot of it is spacing. We know exactly what we need to do.”

The Sixers have just two days left to practice before they tip off Game 1 against the Raptors on Saturday night. While Rivers admits that the description of the Sixers being a "work in progress" before playoffs might worry some, he's confident that the work Harden puts in during and after practice will translate in a positive way this weekend.

“He does it every day,” Rivers continued. “He's been a player who had the ball for this many years in a row, you still have the ball a lot, but now the ball’s being swung to you a lot too. It’s amazing. You watch, and he doesn’t miss a shot, but it’s not natural for somebody swinging him the ball. We keep percentages on all of it, and he’s one of the highest guys on catch-and-shoot on those. In the game, it comes and he puts it on the floor a lot so I don’t know what that is getting comfortable with it, but he’s putting the work in. That’s all you can ask.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.