NEWSLETTER
A shocking trade between the Trail Blazers and Clippers officially jumpstarted trade deadline week. The domino effect of rumors ensued this afternoon, as the Chicago Bulls were connected to Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl (which you can read about here) and we finally saw some movement on the Ben Simmons trade front.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Philadelphia 76ers will try to pursue Harden before the trade deadline, and the Brooklyn Nets are expected to listen.
With the NBA trade deadline just days away on Feb. 10, the 76ers are expected to pursue Harden in the coming days and the Nets are believed to be open to discussing a deal, sources with knowledge of the situation tell The Athletic. There’s expectation that both the 76ers and Nets will engage in dialogue on a deal around Simmons for Harden, multiple sources say, with Philadelphia holding a chest of role players in Seth Curry, Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle that could sweeten a potential package.
WOW.
Smoke has started to billow in recent weeks that Harden could look to leave the Nets’ “Big 3” this offseason. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that Harden informed members of the organization that he could test the free-agent waters this offseason, and Charania is now adding that the Nets could have their own doubts about a continued future with the former MVP.
But beyond availability, sources say there have been growing concerns over Harden’s playing style — one of dominant ballhandling and his own pace from his MVP and All-NBA days in Houston — that contrasts with the free-flowing, organic approach from his two co-stars.
DOUBLE WOW.
If one thing is for sure, it’s that the Brooklyn Nets are in a tough spot. The Kyrie Irving saga has been well-documented, as the All-Star remains only available to play in road games due to New York City’s vaccine requirements. On top of that, Kevin Durant is currently sidelined with a knee injury that was given a 4-to-6 week timeline back in mid-January. This has left Harden – who has dealt with his own on-and-off hamstring issues – to do much of the heavy lifting.
Harden has averaged 22.5 points with 10.2 assists and 8.0 rebounds through 44 games this season, but it’s come on a career-low clip from downtown. All we need is the eye test to tell the freshly named All-Star is not playing like the Harden we’ve come to know, and it all came to a head this Wednesday night when he scored just 4 points in 37 minutes of action for the Nets SIXTH-STRAIGHT loss.
So while the fact Harden and the Nets might be willing to consider a shake-up isn’t baffling, it is still crazy to think this could all finally put an end to the Simmons madness. Also, if a deal were to get done, immediate high expectations would fall on Simmons to help this Nets team compete for a title. Brooklyn would likely also have to send over a package of other role players to get the deal done, making it a pretty substantial mid-season roster change for Philly. Still, this swap could technically boost both teams’ in their Finals pursuit, giving the Bulls that much stiffer competition as they try to maintain their spot near the top of the conference.
Anyway, Charania talked plenty more about all of this in his post below, so make sure to check it out:
Sources: The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to pursue Brooklyn's James Harden ahead of NBA trade deadline Thursday – and the Nets are now open to discussing a deal.
Details on @TheAthletic: https://t.co/asdsGS0Sht
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2022
