The day of the NBA trade deadline has a tendency to generate a ton of buzz as various teams will make last minute moves to shift their rosters, but the most blockbuster of them all just went down. The Brooklyn Nets have decided to trade All-Star guard James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks. According to ESPN hoops expert Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets will acquire an unprotected 2022 first-round pick and a protected 2027 first-round pick.
Leading up to the trade, there was much speculation that Harden — who was already part of a box office Big 3 in Brooklyn alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — was open to testing out free agency this Summer given that there was a significant amount of uncertainty surrounding the Nets availability of its stars. And now he’ll be joining forces with MVP candidate and showtime big man Joel Embiid in Philadelphia which has potential to become a scary pick-and-roll force that the league will have to reckon with.
Simmons has refused to play a single game this season over frustration of the 76ers performance in recent years, and only time will tell if his versatile attributes will mesh well with KD and Irving moving forward. With Seth Curry adding in his long-range shooting capabilities to a squad that already has efficient shooters in Patty Mills and Joe Harris, the Nets can certainly still be considered championship contenders in the coming years.
The Brooklyn Nets are trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022
The new starting lineups ?
(via @wojespn) pic.twitter.com/kOngywHdcI
— ESPN (@espn) February 10, 2022
In other news, Bradley Beal will undergo a season-ending wrist surgery.
Tagged: Sports