NBA TRADE TEADLINE NEWS: James Harden-Ben Simmons Blockbuster Trade: 76ers a Title Contender Now?

Let’s just call it what it is – Philadelphia and Brooklyn just signed one of the biggest trades in NBA (or just BASKETBALL) history. How, one may ask. Nets are sending James Harden and Paul Millsap to Philadelphia 76ers and they will receive Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond. In addition, Nets also gets two first-round picks.

Harden has decided to take advantage of his 47 million player option for the upcoming season. The trade has just been confirmed and our team at TOPONLINEBOOKMAKERS is beyond thrilled. Now, let’s see what Nets General Manager Sean Marks has to say about this exciting deal.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ben, Seth, Andre and their families to Brooklyn,” Marks said in media briefing. “Ben is an All-NBA and All-Defensive player with elite playmaking abilities, while Seth has proven to consistently be one of the league’s best 3-point shooters and Andre has been one of the league’s top rebounders for the last decade. Together, the three will enhance our core by providing versatility and depth on both ends of the floor while better balancing our roster.”

When answering another question, Marks added: “The decision to trade James was a difficult one, however after recent discussions with him and his representatives we felt that this move would be best for all involved, as it better positions us to achieve our goals this season and in the years ahead. We appreciate everything that James has done for our organization both on and off the court and wish him, Paul and DeAndre’ the best moving forward.”

It looks like Philadelphia’s pursuit of James Harden wasn’t a new thing. The 76ers had their eyes on Harden even before he landed in Brooklyn. In fact, they attempted to bring him to Philly when he was still playing for the Houston Rockets. Well, as they say, the second time’s the charm and now Harden is finally a Philadelphia 76er.

Let’s just say Harden was not very pleased how things turned out in Nets. And Kyrie Irving’s struggles in the first half of the 21/22 season didn’t help, at all. Also, Kevin Durant and Joe Harris were having injury problems and Harden had similar issues as well – he has missed Nets last three games because of tightness in his hamstring.

When Harden let Nets officials now he was interesting in Philadelphia specifically, things started to move real fast. Nets moved quickly to secure as much value as they possibly could given the unfortunate circumstances.