Daryl Morey waited… and waited… and waited. After months of backlash for keeping disgruntled All-Star Ben Simmons and sacrificing trade leverage in the hopes of obtaining stars who appeared to be unavailable, the Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations finally got the superstar player he wanted: James Harden.
The Sixers found a landing spot for Simmons at Thursday’s trade deadline, sending him, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round selections 1 to the Brooklyn Nets, after a summer spent trying to trade the disgruntled Simmons and a half-season with the player sitting out. Philly received the Nets star, who had wanted his own trade, as well as Paul Millsap in exchange. “This is WILD,” exclaimed Joel Embiid.
The deal brings the Big Three’s tenure in Brooklyn to a close. Harden was acquired from the Houston Rockets 13 months after the Nets pushed all of their trade chips 2 to the middle of the table to team him with fellow players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, injury and the Milwaukee Bucks (along with Durant’s too-big sneakers) cut the Nets’ season short in 2020-21.
Due to Durant’s current ailment (a damaged MCL) and Irving’s refusal to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine, Harden has spent a lot of time on the court by himself rather than as part of a star trio this season. That was clearly not part of the arrangement, and he was clearly annoyed by it.