The James Harden era in Brooklyn has come to an end.
The Nets have agreed to a deal to send Harden, the All-Star guard and 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player, and veteran forward Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two future first-round picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The trade ends a weeks-long entanglement between Harden, the Nets and the 76ers, and positions both franchises for drastically different futures than predicted when this season started.
Harden’s arrival in Philadelphia immediately buoys the 76ers into the Eastern Conference’s elite and pairs one of the best playmaking guards in NBA history with Joel Embiid, the most dominant force at the center position that the NBA has seen since Shaquille O’Neal. His abilities now legitimizes the Sixers, who were largely considered fringe contenders.
There is nothing fringe about these Sixers. They are maximizing Embiid’s MVP window and are making a run for it all this season.
Yet, for the Nets, this is a polarizing deal.
It’s a disappointment of epic proportions. The Nets are further from their championship aspirations Thursday than they were Wednesday, and the Big 3 era of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be headlined by a second-round playoff exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, and the 16 measly regular-season games the trio of stars played together before Harden’s abrupt exit.
But, the Nets also become more well-rounded by this deal.
Drummond is still a dominant rebounder and shot-blocker, and the Nets have desperately needed a paint presence this season. His arrival all but spells a trade for Nic Claxton, who moves behind Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge on the depth chart and has been out in recent games with the same injury diagnosis the Nets gave Harden: left hamstring tightness.
The Nets also add much-needed spacing by acquiring Curry, a 44% career three-point shooter who will help balance their offense and could fill-in for Joe Harris (ankle surgery), the injured sharpshooter who might be on the move before the 3 p.m. deadline as the Nets sort through his rest-of-the-season availability given the odds of needing a second procedure.
And then, of course, there’s Simmons, who has received a COVID-19 vaccine and could touch the floor at Barclays Center some time after the All-Star break.
Simmons has not played all season, citing mental health issues after his coach and teammates threw him under the bus following a poor performance in Philly’s second-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks. He will continue to work with his therapist to get mentally ready to play for the Nets, reported ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Shelburne cited a source close to Simmons that said, “it’s a work in progress,” while also noting Simmons is excited about the move to Brooklyn and has already spoken to Durant.
The two first-round picks are the icing on the cake for the Nets, who now have more ammunition to make trades in the next hour as the deadline nears. They have a number of players whose names have arisen in trade rumors: Claxton, Harris, Bruce Brown and Jevon Carter among them. Attaching draft compensation, plus the $11.6 million trade exception from the Spencer Dinwiddie deal, gives the Nets some firepower to get deals done.
This may not have been the day anyone anticipated. The Nets’ championship aspirations were headlined by the Big 3, but now there’s a new trio in town.
That trio includes Simmons, who plugs several of the holes in the Nets’ porous defense, but it doesn’t have the offensive firepower that vaulted the Nets into position as title favorites.
