For the last couple of weeks, the rumor mill had been heating up amidst reports that James Harden was unhappy with the Brooklyn Nets and with the trade deadline nearing.
And over the last 48 hours, reports started to come into focus that the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers were working on a potential deal to send Harden to Philadelphia, and Ben Simmons — who has yet to play this season — to Brooklyn.
Now, per multiple reports, a deal has been done:
The framework appears to be as follows:
Nets receive: Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks
76ers receive: James Harden, Paul Millsap
Harden and Millsap immediately join MVP candidate Joel Embiid, who has long trash-talked Simmons, and it also reunites Harden with the mastermind behind this trade, 76ers general manager Daryl Morey. Morey looks to be taking a similar approach to when he was the Rockets’ general manager, which is eschewing draft picks in favor of talent.
This may not be it for Brooklyn, either. Adrian Wojnarowski reports they may make more moves, yet, with the two first-round picks from Philadelphia.
As Wojnarowski reported before the trade, Harden wanted out of Brooklyn, but was aware of the potential backlash of requesting a trade so soon after being moved from Houston. In the end, it appears that wasn’t a meaningful factor.
At 29-25, the Nets are the eighth seed in the East and have been underachieving with Kevin Durant carrying much of the load as Harden started to look elsewhere, and with Kyrie Irving as a part-time player due to being unvaccinated. Now, Harden heads to a fifth-seeded Sixers team, and will have a matchup with the Nets on March 10.