The Philadelphia 76ers will have a couple of months leading up to the offseason to figure out how they can acquire James Harden in a sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Sixers have some obvious interest in Harden, and Philadelphia president Daryl Morey would love to be reunited with him after their successful run with the Houston Rockets. Harden’s fit next to Joel Embiid would be nearly perfect, and it would be welcomed by the Sixers who need perimeter scoring.
To create cap space, the Sixers will likely have to move Tobias Harris and the $38 million he’s owed in the 2022-23 season. The Sixers have been working on trying to include Harris in any Ben Simmons trades leading up to the Feb. 10 trade deadline, but it sounds like a Harris deal is pretty unlikely.
Per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Sixers tried including Harris in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, which they turned down. Pompey added the sense around the league is there is really only one team that could take Harris.
Per Pompey:
The Hawks considered sending John Collins, Cam Reddish and a first-round pick to the Sixers in exchange for Simmons, according to sources. However, the talks stopped after Harris’ name was brought into the deal.
“There’s no way that kind of deal is going to happen,” a source said. “There’s maybe one (team) on a stretch that can take back Tobias. But I just think it’s a long shot. Teams would be restricted for doing a deal for a B-level player, plus giving up a pick to get Ben.”
The Sixers will have a lot of work to do to acquire Harden. It remains to be seen if that includes having to move Harris, but there does not appear to be a lot of interest around the league for the veteran out of Tennessee.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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