Collective team defense is important no doubt, but I think a single defender outside of a rim protector is pretty overrated. We see in the NBA how easily you can force a switch for example, and now Ben isn't on the guy I wanted him to be on. You can just attack someone else instead. Or, most importantly, it's obvious no matter how great of a defender you are you're not stopping the elite players in this league.
GSW often ranked as a top defense in the league and had elite defenders like Iggy and Draymond to the throw at LeBron. Did they ever stop him? fukk no
Iggy played such good defense on Bron that he was crowned FMVP over Steph. You know how far that defense got them? They almost lost to a Cavs team without KLove and Kyrie as Bron averaged 36/13/9 
2016 they throw their elite defenders from a top ranked defense at Bron, and down 3-1 he finishes the series going 36/12/10 on 51/42/73 splits Same story once KD arrived, GSW couldn't stop Bron at all, and even Bron himself couldn't stop KD at all 
Heat had a great defense with guys like Jimmy to guard Bron and bigs to defend the rim like Bam, and Bron still sliced them muffukkas up like it was nothing, and Jimmy cooked up the Lakers too. Bron and Co. couldn't stop Jimmy at all. You're not stopping the superstars in this league, you're overwhelming them with offense to win titles
Again, defense is important, but we overvalue what a single defender brings to the table. Even elite rim protectors who have more value than perimeter guys, look at Rudy Gobert. The dominating DPOY, but how far does that get the Jazz?
Most impactful defender in the league but there's probably 20+ guys you'd rather have because of what they bring on offense.Even with Harden our defense would be good, and what we'd gain on offense would more than outweigh any decline. With the way Harris is playing, no way a squad with Green/Harris/Embiid is bad defensively, they'd still be great. We'd be like +8 on offense and -2 on defense let's say - certainly worth it.
Most importantly, you need a perimeter creator to win a title. Straight up. It's why we struggle in the playoffs all the time, and Jimmy was so key to carrying us. In the playoffs when Ben often becomes mediocre to subpar offensively, an elite perimeter creator like Harden becomes even more valuable than they were in the regular season. You're not going to find a true title team in the league without an elite perimeter creator. We're probably the best team without one, and because of it our ceiling is nice playoff run and not NBA champions
Breh can't shoot and doesn't add anything else to the team. No dimes, no boards, no steals or blocks. His defense may be a little more important for them next to Luka tho
the kid is hungry for success
