Breaking: The Philadelphia 76ers intend to trade for James Harden and plan to keep Ben Simmons by the end of the 2021-22 season
James Harden has expressed that he is frustrated with the Brooklyn Nets and does not enjoy living in Brooklyn. Despite the Nets still being a top-three seeded team in the Eastern Conference, it appears that Harden has not been satisfied with how the team has been operating. From the Nets allowing Kyrie Irving to play part-time basketball to the many injuries that the Nets currently have, Harden wants to be in a position where he can win.
According to many sources, including Shams Charania or ‘The Athletic,’ the Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly interested in acquiring James Harden from the Nets. The 76ers are committed to trading for Harden and expect to make a deal centred around Ben Simmons. Since Daryl Morey has been appointed to general manager of the 76ers, he has tried to trade for Harden on several occasions. The interest in Harden was always brewing with the 76ers as Harden could be the ideal scoring point guard Philadelphia has desperately needed.
If the 76ers can successfully trade for Harden, they would be in a great place to win the championship this season. The 76ers have tried to compete for the championship for years but failed as the Simmons and Joel Embiid duo was never a good fit. Bringing in a player as offensively talented as Harden would elevate the 76ers to being the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia failed to get Harden the first time, and plans not to duplicate their past failures. With Harden being unpleased with the Brooklyn Nets to the point where he intends to test free-agency this off-season, the 76ers plan to be aggressive when trading for Harden. According to an article written by Jon Conahan of ‘Clutch Points,’ he references a quote by ‘The Philadelphia Inquirer’ about the amount of dedication the 76ers have in trading for Harden.
“At the end of the day, it’s Harden all the way,” said a league source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They want Harden whether they get him now. Whether they get him on a forced sign-and-trade this summer.”
Despite all the Harden reports of him being displeased with the state of the Brooklyn Nets, it will be a difficult task for Morey to convince the Nets to trade one of their star players in exchange for a player who has yet to play this season in Ben Simmons. The Nets are in contention mode and aspire to win the championship this season. It will be challenging for the 76ers to pull off a trade at the deadline, meaning they will have to pursue a sign-and-trade in the off-season unless Harden requests a trade.
The Nets are arguably the most talented team in the NBA, but due to injuries and politics, they have been unable to reach their full potential as an overall team. From Harden’s perspective, it’s understandable why he feels frustrated with the organization, given that they have yet to reach their full potential. Depending on how they play in the playoffs, the Nets trio could be breaking apart by the end of the season.
The 76ers depend on the Nets to lose in the playoffs to solidify themselves in successfully trading for Harden. If the Nets win the championship this season, it would be hard for Harden not to consider re-signing with the Nets. The 76ers have a great opportunity to make a Simmons for Harden trade happen by the end of the season as long as the Nets get eliminated from the playoffs.
Closing Thoughts
The 76ers have a top-ten quality player in Joel Embiid and have a great chance of paring him with a former MVP. Last season, the 76ers were the number one seed and had a real chance of making the NBA Finals after the Brooklyn Nets were eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks. However, due to a poor second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, the 76ers lost in the second round while losing a great opportunity in making their first Conference Finals with Embiid. If the 76ers had Harden instead of Simmons, the outcome of that series would have been a lot different. The 76ers have a second opportunity to trade for Harden, and this time, they should be successful as long as the Nets do not win the 2021-22 NBA championship.
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