“Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown”: JJ Redick Unravels the Impact of Losing PJ Tucker and James Harden on Joel Embiid and Co.

During a recent segment on his ‘The Old Man and The Three‘ podcast, JJ Redick went into detail about the Philadelphia 76ers’ potential struggles after the James Harden and PJ Tucker trade. While Redick had long expected Harden to not play for the 76ers again, he believes that PJ Tucker’s absence, in particular, will hurt them. Talking about Tucker’s useful but not-so-well-liked defensive skill set, Redick claimed that defending the bigger wing players might prove to be a problem for the 76ers.

JJ mentioned the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown, claiming that the 76ers did not necessarily have the personnel to depend upon.

“The question I have is who is guarding the bigger wings, because I really trust De’Anthony Melton as a perimeter defender, but in terms of the bigger wings you are going to have in the East. You know, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, even to some extent PJ Tucker is guarding Giannis at times, right?”,

Redick said, claiming that the likes of Jaden Springer and Jaden McDaniels cannot necessarily be relied upon. As per the 39-year-old podcaster, while Springer had been impressive throughout the initial part of the season, the 21-year-old does not lend the same defensive confidence that PJ did.

“So, it is the bigger offensive players I dont think right now you can necessarily rely on Jaden Springer who has been awesome so far in preseason and early. Jaden McDaniels, maybe, is Tobias all of a sudden your wing stopper for bigger guys like Jimmy Butler? So that’s where I think there is a need losing PJ,” he said. 

The 38-year-old PJ Tucker will be teaming up with Harden for the 3rd time in his career at the LA Clippers, after stints at the Rockets and Philadelphia.

“I know were a contingent of Philly fans that probably didnt love PJ just coz he didnt bring a lot offensively. But his defensive skill-set and his tenacity and just knowing you have a guy who is gonna guard at a high level, the bigger players, there is a comfort blanket in that, and that’s where Philly I think probably needs to address,” Reddick said.

While Tucker has never been a scorer, his defensive tenacity and hustle meant that the 76ers had a guy to rely on defensively, when it came to the bigger wing shooters. While most fans will be concerned with the lack of return they got on James Harden, Redick firmly believes that it is the 38-year-old power forward, whose absence might prove to be a bigger challenge for the 76ers, as the season progresses.

Philadelphia 76ers are expected to go star hunting next summer

According to Adrien Wojnarowski, Daryl Morey hopes that the 76ers can make minor moves in the coming days to put forth a team around Embiid, capable of challenging for the Eastern Conference title. While the 76ers find themselves short on star power, the Harden trade is not the beginning of the end of Joel Embiid. Rather, the 76ers fully aim to continue to support their biggest superstar.

“Daryl Morey’s hope is that the sixers can have a team by the trade deadline that can compete for an Eastern Conference championship and they can go star hunting this summer around Embiid,”

Woj said, before claiming that the idea is to prepare a package that can land them a star next summer.

Hence, while the coming season might as well prove to be challenging in a packed Eastern Conference, the 76ers will have the resources they need to go for a star alongside Embiid for the 2024-25 campaign.