A win-win trade for the ages
James Harden is a Sixer. Ben Simmons, finally, is not.
All week, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had been downplaying the significance of the Harden-to-Philly rumors, saying that the two teams hadn’t engaged in any meaningful dialogue regarding a trade.
He changed his tune real frickin’ quick on Thursday morning.
Woj reported what may be the wildest story of his career: James Harden wanted to be in Philadelphia, and he wanted it to happen before the trade deadline, but he was afraid of the backlash that might come from formally asking out of two different teams in consecutive seasons.
What?
Is this high school?
By now, you know what happened next: Nets GM Sean Marks and Sixers GM Daryl Morey naked mud wrestled their way to a trade that would Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, a 2022 unprotected first round pick and a 2027 protected first round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for James Harden and Paul Millsap.
For just this one moment, before we’ve seen anything on an actual basketball court, this is a damn near perfect win-win trade for both sides.
James Harden, it seems, owes his Hall of Fame-bound career to working with Daryl Morey, and he knows it. The Sixers didn’t send any of Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle or Tobias Harris in the deal. That means that Harden has a clear five to work with, and it’s about as good of a fit as you’d hope for the modern NBA.
Two incredible, bail-out scorers in Harden and Embiid, with Maxey and a now optimized version of Tobias Harris not too far behind. Two of the best defenders in the world in Embiid and Thybulle. Five guys who can dribble and pass and make good decisions. (I’m looking at you, Tobias Harris. Get your shit together!)
In Brooklyn, adding Ben Simmons and Seth Curry in place of Harden brings a whole new dimension to their roster. Simmons’ ball-handling and defense without the shooting is exactly what the Nets needed. He’s nearly a perfect defender for the modern NBA, with the size and quickness to guard nearly every player in the league. Seth Curry has been the Sixers’ second best player this season and can play both on and off-ball — depending on if Kyrie’s allowed to play that night.
These Nets at full strength might be as dangerous as we imagined the previous iteration to be. I can see Simmons roving around the floor with the ball, screening and cutting and flashing to help any of Irving, Curry, Durant or Aldridge get open. The addition of Andre Drummond gives them someone who resembles a center — and by stealing him, the Sixers are now without a proper backup to Embiid.
The NBA is a smart business, and yesterday’s trade deadline was followed by LeBron and KD’s All-Star Draft. Both superstars went back and forth picking their teams, but by the end, just two names remained on the board: Rudy Gobert and James Harden.
It kept going. LeBron asked the crew if Harden was healthy, knowing he’s missed the last few games with the world’s tightest left hamstring. Barkley yelled, “He’s healthy now, he got traded!” That’s the only time KD smiled.
Ernie asked the crew if they’d like to make any trades now that their All-Star rosters were finalized. Durant asked LeBron what he’d like for Darius Garland, and was swiftly met with “You not done making trades for the day?”
If you had any doubts about who was happier about the trade between KD and Embiid, you had your answer long before Durant refused to smile.
Embiid stopped by his biggest enemies’ funeral today, just to make sure that Ben Simmons’ time in a Sixers uniform was dead:
When the Nets beat the Sixers this season, KD waved the Sixers off the court. When they met again, Embiid waved KD off the court. Brooklyn visits Philadelphia on March 10th. Does Ben Simmons show his face in front of a ruthless Sixers crowd? I think he should.
He needs to rip the bandaid off — especially if these two teams meet in the playoffs.
Simmons needs to beat the Sixers, and wave them off their home court.
Links
Just one link today: Yaron Weitzman’s incredible breakdown of the Harden-Sixers saga from start to finish, detailing their relationship and how Morey accidentally played the Simmons situation perfectly.
Yesterday’s NBA trade deadline was a whirlwind. We’ll have a comprehensive piece reacting to all of the deals for you on Monday, once the dust is fully settled.