PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have not missed James Harden's presence on the court yet to start the 2023-24 season. Joel Embiid continues to be a two-way force, Tyrese Maxey has blossomed with a greater opportunity and the Sixers have ripped off three straight wins, the latest being a home victory over the Toronto Raptors.

The Sixers and Los Angeles Clippers, after a months-long game of chicken, finally agreed on a deal that included seven players between both sides and numerous draft picks heading to Philly. It split up one of the NBA's best duos. Embiid is no stranger to seeing a star teammate traded and this one, after such incredible, near-immediate results, was very tough.

Harden was supposed to be — and, in fairness, was for a period of time — Embiid's greatest co-star. His elite playmaking chops paired wonderfully with the big man. Harden gifted Embiid a custom Rolex and gave him a massive bear hug when he was officially announced as the 2023 MVP. Their chemistry only got to show itself for one full season before an offseason of drama and disagreements left Harden feeling no path forward with the team.

“I mean, I'm happy that the situation got resolved and I'm happy for him,” Embiid said of Harden getting the trade he requested. “He wanted it to happen. But it's all business. I'm happy for him. I hope he has the chance to succeed and make a lot of money and play good basketball and being able to win. Now, I hope we both make the Finals but, you know, he's on the losing side of it and we on the winning side of it. But I'm just, like I said, I'm happy for him. He got what he wanted. Unfortunately, there was a lot of misunderstanding between people that were mentioned but it's always good to see people happy and he seems to be happy.”

Embiid acknowledged the disappointment of not getting his partnership with Harden to amount to anything more than regular-season dominance and another second-round exit. The Sixers' star duo led the team to a 3-2 advantage before crumbling in the final two games, especially in Game 7.

In his introductory press conference with the Clippers, Harden spoke about how he felt stymied and limited in his role with the Sixers. Embiid surmised that he and the coaching staff may have had their disagreements but said that, in his eyes, Harden had the opportunity to play his game.

“In my opinion, I just feel like we allowed him to be himself and we gave him the ball every single possession because he is really good,” Embiid said. “I mean, he's an amazing player. Obviously, being that great of a passer, I think we just gave him the ball. If you watch again, we gave him the ball every single possession to just go out and do his thing and from there, he had to make decisions as far as getting guys open or looking out for himself. But I thought it did a pretty good job of just getting us into an offense, and not just passing the ball, getting guys open.”

As far as what the Sixers got back for Harden, Embiid said that he has familiarity with Robert Covington, Marcus Morris Sr. and Nicolas Batum from over the years — especially with the previous few seasons he played with Covington — and that he's excited to connect with the uber-athletic K.J. Martin on alley-oops. He didn’t make much of the draft picks, insinuating that they’re for the front office, not him, to handle.

Embiid reiterated his stance from media day that the Sixers will always have a shot to win as long as he's there. Philly's new roster and new system under Nick Nurse is inspiring a lot of confidence and now, the team has more flexibility and assets to get better.

“The only thing I care about is winning,” Embiid said. “That's my focus and I hope that we all on the same page 'cause that's all I want. The moment we're not on the same page, then that's a discussion for another day. But I think these guys want to win and we're gonna do our best.”