It is trade season in the NBA and teams are working hard to find that next big deal to improve their roster. The Philadelphia 76ers are one of those teams and with new president Daryl Morey running the show, they are expected to make some type of move here soon.
One big name that has popped up recently is Houston Rockets star James Harden as it appears the Rockets are getting ready to blow things up and move forward with a retooling. Harden had a good relationship with Morey and ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins already mentioned that he has Philadelphia on his trade destination list.
However, it does appear that the Sixers would have to give up one of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Which makes total sense as a team has to give up value in order to get value. On the flip side, Morey and the Sixers are not ready to move on from either player.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and The Stadium went on NBATV to discuss his reporting of any potential Harden deal and he mentioned that the Sixers do not want to give up Simmons in any Harden deal:
As far as the Sixers are concerned, unless they’re putting in Ben Simmons, which I’m told they’re not inclined to do right now, I don’t see a deal structure that makes sense for Philly outside of a guy like Ben Simmons.
.@ShamsCharania said that the #Sixers have NOT been willing to deal Ben Simmons thus far. pic.twitter.com/LRDDSgvkxd
— Harrison Grimm (@Harrison_Grimm) November 17, 2020
It does appear that Harden would much rather prefer playing for the Brooklyn Nets. He has a relationship with Nets star Kevin Durant from their days with the Oklahoma City Thunder and him teaming up with Durant and Kyrie Irving would make the Nets immediate title contenders.
The Rockets, however, are trying to keep Harden and rebuild aby bad feelings with their superstar player.
The Rockets, at this juncture, remain intent on keeping James Harden and trying to rebuild the team's relationship with him despite reports of Harden's growing discontent, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 17, 2020
The Harden saga with the Rockets will be something to definitely keep an eye on in the coming days. With a guy like Morey, anything and everything is on the table. Even if he says Simmons is not going to be traded now, who knows if he were to change his mind? [lawrence-related id=39154,39147,39144]