The final days of the NBA trade period are well-known for generating plenty of buzz with speculation, rumours, and the like as teams aim to lock in a championship-worthy roster. The blockbuster trade this year involved the Brooklyn Nets exchanging James Harden and Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers for Aussie problem child Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, as well as two first-round draft picks (much to Kevin Durant’s chagrin).
James Harden has only been with the Nets for a little over a year after making the move at the beginning of 2021 from the Houston Rockets, where the NBA All-Star had played since 2012. The development also comes as a surprise, given how Harden voiced his long-term commitment to the Nets just a few months ago, stating his intentions to be, “focused on trying to bring a championship to this city.”
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At least from the outside, the Beard appeared to have returned to form both physically and mentally at the Nets, turning his well-documented chassis blowout during his short-lived residence at Brooklyn. However, with the news of his trade, James Harden’s part in the Big 3 era at Brooklyn (alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving) is over before it ever really began.
The trade is also significant as it returns the spotlight to the plagued Ben Simmons, who has been looking for the door since last year – and hasn’t even played a single game this season. Simmons’ displeasure with the Sixers has been a major talking point in the NBA since early 2021, when he set a new record for worst foul line shooting in a single postseason, hitting 25 of his 73 attempts.
With James Harden looking likely to spend his remaining years with the Philadelphia 76ers, he’ll join fan favourite big man Joel Embiid in Pennsylvania, where the two are set to make up a frightening force for the rest of the league to contend with. He’ll also be reunited with his former general manager Daryl Morey from his time at the Houston Rockets, who has since become the Philadephia team’s president of basketball operations.
