The trade between the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers two seasons ago where the 76ers received Harden and the Nets received Simmons was supposed to be a transaction where both teams found a solution to their problem of having a star that wanted out. Somehow, neither team has benefitted from the trade as of right now.
In what seems like perfect timing because of all of the drama surrounding Harden and the 76ers, Andy Bailey recently wrote an article on Bleacher Report discussing five of the worst trades in the NBA over the past five seasons and the Harden-Simmons deal made the list.
This trade making the list is not a surprise given how interesting both players are to the landscape of the league. Simmons was once regarded as the next LeBron James archetype while Harden was supposed to be the player that Joel Embiid needed to get Philadelphia over the second-round hump.
Let’s examine why this trade has been disappointing: