Paul Pierce Weighs In On 76ers, James Harden Free Agency
Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce has never been known to mince words when it comes to the state of the NBA and its teams, so weighing on the Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden isn’t shocking.
Pierce joined former teammate Kevin Garnett on the latest episode of “Ticket and the Truth” to discuss what the Sixers should do with the 10-time All-Star.
“It depends on the numbers and the years,” Pierce told Garnett. “You can’t, I don’t know if you could give James a maximum contract right now because then you gonna kinda like handicap your future and your flexibility. Because you got to get better. You got to add something to there.”
When Garnett asked Pierce what additions he would make to lift the Sixers to a championship, the 2008 NBA Champion couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Man, they got to get better. I don’t know what it is right now,” Pierce said. “I like (Tyrese) Maxey going forwards. I mean they had it right — they should have won Game Six at home versus the Celtics. They fumbled that.
“Joel Embiid is in his prime right now, so maybe just development with their young guys off the bench. You always need players you can depend on. You need to get that player you can depend on off the bench. I think that’s what they need some more dependability off the bench. Some depth.”
Pierce noted that adding depth does not mean taking away from their starting roster, especially given the success the team has had. Something the retired guard wishes the powers that be would acknowledge.
“They one of the best teams in the league when healthy. When they healthy, they win a lot of games,” Pierce said. “These coaches and these GMs got to get over all right, yeah you lost but you got something good. Let’s add to it.
“… What is it about? Is it about winning a championship, getting better, or whenever you get disgruntled and stuff don’t work your way? You got to keep adding to what’s good.”
Talking about the front office stemmed Pierce to point out the coaching carousel following Philadelipha’s loss to Boston in the playoffs when they relieved Doc Rivers of his duties and replaced him with Nick Nurse.
“Look, they done fired a Doc and hired a Nurse,” Pierce said with a laugh.
Pierce said MVP Joel Embiid is a top five player in the league and he likes the way Harden plays with him and would want to keep the duo together.
“But you can’t cripple your franchise with a number that just like gonna hurt where you can’t add to it,” Pierce said.
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