With less than 48 hours to go until the NBA’s trade deadline, the Nets remain adamant James Harden isn’t going anywhere. Even amid a frustrating eight-game losing streak, internally, the Nets still feel they can win it all, assuming the health of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the latter still unavailable for home games due to New York’s vaccine mandate.
Maybe the Nets will make it out the other side, returning to form just in time for the playoffs and riding their star trio to an Eastern Conference title. But with Durant still in street clothes (the injured superstar hasn’t suited up in weeks) and Harden, an impending free agent, beginning to doubt his future in Brooklyn, it could just as easily go sideways for the Nets, who last won January 21st at San Antonio.
Harden will not be in uniform when Brooklyn hosts Boston Tuesday night at Barclays Center, missing his third straight game with “hamstring tightness,” though many suspect the Nets are holding him out for a different reason. Are the Nets keeping Harden under wraps so they can trade him to the Sixers, who are looking to unload disgruntled All-Star Ben Simmons, ahead of Thursday’s 3 PM ET deadline? Coach Steve Nash insists that’s not the case, though league insider Sam Amick of The Athletic has yet to rule out the possibility of a blockbuster trade sending Harden to Philadelphia.
The 76ers, per Amick’s sources, “strongly believe” Harden will leave the Nets in free agency this offseason (he holds a $47.4-million player option for 2022-23), assuming he’s not traded before then. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, a former Rockets executive and perhaps Harden’s biggest supporter throughout the league, is reportedly convinced the 32-year-old will skip town when his contract expires this summer and is “hopeful” Brooklyn will come to its senses by entertaining trade offers for the former MVP.
If Philadelphia’s assessment is correct, a deal would arguably benefit all involved—the Sixers would acquire a superstar to pair with Joel Embiid with Simmons enjoying a fresh start in Brooklyn, where he wouldn’t be asked to carry the load on offense. Simmons, whose contract runs through 2025, also addresses the Nets’ biggest need—perimeter defense. Of course, if the 76ers are confident Harden is coming to Philadelphia as a free agent anyway, they could wait until the summer to pounce, making room for Harden by dealing Simmons and Tobias Harris in salary dump trades.
Last year was the busiest trade deadline on record and we’ve already seen a few doozies this year with Domontas Sabonis, CJ McCollum, Caris LeVert, Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton among players jettisoned in the past few days. But Simmons for Harden would be a truly jaw-dropping event.
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