James Harden traded for Ben Simmons in Nets-76ers blockbuster
WASHINGTON — The Nets broke up the Big 3, ending the James Harden experiment and trading him Thursday to the 76ers in a Ben Simmons blockbuster.
Brooklyn dealt an aging former MVP who clearly wanted out, and got not only Simmons — a three-time All-Star who’s been sitting out to force a move — but also Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first-round pick and protected 2027 first.
Oh, and a team finally all pulling in the same direction for a ring.
The Nets included Paul Millsap, who had requested a trade, and requested waivers on DeAndre’ Bembry.
The deadline-day deal came after an increasingly disgruntled Harden forced his way out of his second team in as many years.
“I can’t really say that you feel that [unhappiness] in the locker room, but we get hints,” Kyrie Irving said. “So we just wish him well. We want him to be ultimately successful. Now we move forward with the guys that are coming in. We’re excited.
“I just want everyone to be happy and do things they love to do, and be a part of things they can see themselves being successful at. It probably wasn’t here with us and he made a choice and we respect him for it. No love lost.”
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Apparently not with Kevin Durant — serving as a captain in the All-Star Game draft later Thursday evening — saying he was “happy we got guys who want to be part of this.” Then he illustrated how much love he had for Harden when he hilariously passed on taking him with all seven of his reserve-round selections of the draft.
Faced with Harden’s unhappiness, GM Sean Marks still managed a deal regarded in league circles as one-sided in Brooklyn’s favor.
“The decision to trade James was a difficult one,” Marks said. “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.”
And with the trade deadline and the Harden drama behind them, the Nets — who lost their 10th straight Thursday night to the Wizards — can sort out their future.
“Yeah, it probably just narrows our focus a little bit more and one of those things where the distractions can now leave us and we can focus on the task at hand,” Patty Mills said.
The megadeal marks the end of the Big 3 of Harden, Irving and Durant after only 16 games. Their 13-3 mark — and coming within a hair of beating Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference playoffs last year despite injuries to Harden and Irving — will have the Nets thinking “what if” with the dynasty that never was.
“Yeah, of course,” coach Steve Nash said. “You’re up 2-0 against the NBA champs, and then to not have James in the first games and then Kyrie in the last games, James being on one leg, Jeff Green being out of the lineup, all sorts of things that hampered our opportunity to win.
“To take them to overtime in Game 7, you definitely think there are some ‘what ifs.’ But that’s life. You can’t look back; you’ve got to look forward.”
Looking forward, the Nets are sending a former MVP to play alongside Joel Embiid in the midst of his own career MVP-caliber campaign. It could also conceivably lower their own ceiling, and certainly hurts their offense.
But it makes Brooklyn better defensively and younger, with Simmons, 25, seven years younger than Harden. And it also eliminates the threat of the disgruntled star either becoming an aging drag on the salary cap or bolting for nothing.
Now the Nets ended up with the picks, Drummond and Curry — whose .437 career 3-point percentage is fifth all time and second among all active players, behind only new teammate Joe Harris.
The Nets can generate a new $11.3 million trade exception according to cap expert Yossi Gozlan. But observers liked the deal for basketball reasons, not business.
“When you look at the trade, especially with the two first-round picks Brooklyn got, it looks one-sided,” Stan Van Gundy said on TNT.
Added Charles Barkley: “Man, what a great trade by Brooklyn … getting Drummond and Seth Curry, that’s icing on the cake.
“Let me tell you something, I don’t care who you are, other than the Milwaukee Bucks. … There’s nobody else, if they get healthy, that they’re gonna fear.”
