The NBA trade deadline ended with a BANG! *Mike Breen voice*
James Harden has been traded to Philly for Ben Simmons.
Harden joins forces with the head of the MVP race, Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.
Ben Simmons is now a Brooklyn Net alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Philly GM Daryl Morrey has officially been reunited with his former MVP James Harden in Philadelphia. Philly sure did give up a lot in this deal. It’s a bold strategy Morrey, but it may just pay off…
Here’s the full trade details reported by Woj:
The Brooklyn Nets are trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022
The price that Philly paid for Harden wasn’t cheap. You would have thought that if this deal were to actually go down then it wouldn’t have involved much more than a Simmons for Harden swap straight up and not all of these other assets included as well.
Although, It was just reported by Shams that Harden will indeed opt-in on his contract and be with Philly next season which makes the deal make more sense.
As part of deal, new 76ers star James Harden is opting into his $47.3 million player option on contract for next season, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2022
The Nets not only get Ben Simmons in this deal, but also receive knockdown shooter Seth Curry, rebounding machine Andre Drummond, AND two first-round picks.
The Nets can’t be sure what Ben Simmons they are getting since he hasn’t seen an NBA court since the playoffs last season and that wasn’t pretty. What we do know is that Simmons is an amazing playmaker/ elite defender and could seemingly fit in well with Kyrie and KD. Maybe even better than Harden could have.
The Nets come out much better off in this deal considering how they’ve been playing so far this year. They are on a 9 game losing streak and are the 8th seed in the East. With KD out for another 5 weeks, it wasn’t even guaranteed that they were making the playoffs.
As for the 76ers, they are going for an all-or-nothing championship this year. I’m glad Morrey went ahead and made this deal so this season isn’t a wash for Joel. He is playing incredible basketball right now and to let it go to waste would have been unfortunate.
This trade was a win-win for both teams.
Projected Philadelphia 76ers Starting Lineup
- PG – James Harden
- SG – Danny Green
- SF – Matisse Thybulle
- PF – Tobias Harris
- C – Joel Embiid
Projected Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup
- PG – Kyrie Irving
- SG – Seth Curry
- SF – Kevin Durant
- PF – Ben Simmons
- C – Nicolas Claxton
Not gonna lie that Brooklyn lineup is looking real nice…
The excitement can’t be contained. You hear the rumors, but you never know what to believe. For this deal to go down just a year after James Harden is traded from Houston is a whole step above shocking. It’s mindboggling. Unbelievable.
James Harden will now be battling his former team in the Eastern Conference.
March 10th to be exact.
Just imagine if we get to see a Philly/Brooklyn matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals.
