Joel Embiid will be at the crux of any game plan for the Nets in their first-round playoff matchup versus the 76ers.

Embiid could win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, and by himself could shape the outcome of the entire postseason.

But the Nets don’t want to focus on Embiid so much that they lose track of Philadelphia’s other players, including former Big 3 member James Harden, who forced his way out of Brooklyn with a trade in February 2022.

He was the league leader this season in assists per game at 10.7, and while his 21.0 points per game don’t match his career-best numbers, they are strong enough that he, too, could alter the trajectory of the Nets’ next two weeks.

“Oh we focusing on Harden, too,” Spencer Dinwiddie said Thursday. “He’s an MVP, too. We talk about Embiid as MVP this year, but we are not lost or slept on Harden by any stretch.

“He’s a guy that can have 60 points. He’s a guy that can get 20 assists. He’s a guy that can get 25 free throws. He can completely change and alter a game at any point in time, and we’re not taking that lightly by any stretch.”

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Harden’s presence will spark a strange reunion when the teams meet beginning Saturday in Philadelphia.

He joined the Nets in 2021 to mark the creation of a superteam, but then forced his way out one year later.

The return included Seth Curry, Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and draft picks.

With Harden gone, the franchise’s championship blueprint officially imploded at the 2023 trade deadline — when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were both traded.

In the days following the trade deadline two months ago, and the one-year anniversary of his deal away from the Nets, Harden said from Barclays Center that the short-lived Big 3 “was wrong” and filled with “dysfunction.”

But the new-look Nets clung to their playoff spot, and now Harden awaits.

Head coach Jacque Vaughn said he can “lean on a little bit of understanding” in preparing for Harden as his former coach, but also noted that team-to-team responsibilities change.

In three games against the Nets since his trade, Harden has totaled 63 points, 18 assists and 15 rebounds. He was inactive for the other two meetings.

“There are some things that he does now that he did when he was with us,” Vaughn said, “so if they can help us defend or help us on the offensive end, we’ll try to use it.”

One key, though, will revolve around keeping Harden away from the free-throw line — similar to the Nets’ approach with Embiid.

Harden hit 86.7 percent from the line, missing just 48 of his 361 foul shots and attempt 6.2 per game the entire 2022-23 season.

He went 15-for-16 from the line in two games against the Nets.

Vaughn said he wants the Nets to play aggressively without fouling, while also understanding Harden could get others involved, in addition to creating his own opportunities.

“He’s figured out his way,” Nic Claxton said. “He’s picking his spots. He’s been solid this year. But … keeping him off the free-throw line and just knowing his tendencies, it’s also going to be a group effort to slow him down as well.”

Curry, who comes off the bench, will be the only player from that 2022 trade to play for the Nets in the series.

Simmons is out for the year and Drummond signed last summer with the Bulls.

Simmons, a top defender, could’ve helped the Nets contain Harden, though his minutes had thinned — and his knee and back problems had limited him — before he began a rehab program in late March.

That will turn the primary focus to Harden. Claxton said he still stays in contact with Harden “here and there,” acknowledging how the NBA works as players move on from team to team and do their own thing.

Others, like Vaughn, spoke about the attention that Harden’s skill set attracts on the court.

The combination will make the first-round series twofold both a glimpse of what this present group of Nets could build in the future and also a sharp reminder of what could’ve been.

“Even if Ben was on the court, you just go out and compete no matter who it is,” Claxton said of the 2022 trade’s repercussions impacting the first-round matchup. “Can’t really make something out of nothing. Just go out, have fun.”