After months of frustration for all parties involved, the Philadelphia 76ers have finally traded away Ben Simmons. The deal, centered around a Simmons/Harden swap with the Brooklyn Nets, transpired just hours before the NBA’s official trade deadline. Find the full details of the trade, and a brief analysis of the new-look Sixers below.
The Trade, AKA Morey Moving Mountains
The obvious headliner in this trade for the 76ers is former MVP James Harden joining forces with current MVP-hopeful Joel Embiid. The Sixers will also receive Paul Millsap as part of the deal. In exchange for Harden and Millsap, Philadelphia ships out Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two future first-round draft picks.
Daryl Morey, the Sixers President of Basketball Operations, was adamant through the entire Simmons hold-out saga that he wanted a top 30 player in return. For a long while that didn’t seem possible and it appeared the Sixers would be left with a disgruntled player who would rather set millions of dollars on fire than play for their team. However, the situation quickly changed when rumors started flying that James Harden was unhappy in Brooklyn. The factors that led to Harden’s desire to leave aren’t entirely clear but they likely include both Kevin Durant’s injury and Kyrie Irving’s part-time player status.
Worried that Harden would simply leave in free agency this off-season, the Nets decided to flip the superstar to Philadelphia in exchange for real assets. Seth Curry has played remarkably this year and will inject shooting into a lineup that’s likely without Joe Harris the rest of the season. Andre Drummond immediately becomes the Nets most capable rim-protector during their time with Durant sidelined. While it’s been a long time since anyone’s seen Ben Simmons play basketball, his best qualities such as defense, unselfish playmaking, and transition dominance should theoretically flourish as he plays alongside others that can handle the scoring load.
When a potential Simmons/Harden trade was in the works last year, it was strongly suspected that the Sixers would have to part ways with both Matisse Thybulle, a defensive menace, and Tyrese Maxey, their budding young guard. Those players, who are serious contributors to Philadelphia’s current roster, have been replaced in this deal with future picks. This is a huge win for the Sixers who are absolutely in win-now mode.
The Sixers, AKA the Newest Contenders in the East
Joel Embiid, as the team’s lone superstar, was great enough to have the Sixers on course to make the playoffs. But without more starpower, the team wasn’t likely to advance very far in the postseason. As a result of the addition of James Harden, the Sixers are now a team to fear in the Eastern Conference and absolutely have a shot at reaching the finals. The East is as deep with contenders as it’s ever been but Morey has assembled a roster that, while not having a tremendous amount of depth, can trot out a starting lineup as daunting as anyone else.
James Harden is expected to assume point guard duties with Tyrese Maxey flanking him on the perimeter. Maxey’s usage rate will surely decrease with the ball-dominant Harden being added to the mix, but he’ll likely slide back into his former role during the minutes when Harden is on the bench. That leaves Embiid and Harris as the frontcourt starters with Thybulle and Korkmaz probably splitting time depending on if the team needs more defense or shooting. The loss of Curry certainly hurts, particularly as he had terrific chemistry on dribble handoffs with Embiid, but that’s the price of doing business for someone like Harden.
The key to how successful this 76ers team will be is what version of James Harden they are acquiring. He remains an all-star caliber player, but few still view him as the league MVP he was during his time in Houston. His play for the Brooklyn Nets the last few weeks has been putrid…but he very well could have been playing his way off the team as he did with the Rockets in recent memory. Embiid dominates from the post on a daily basis. If Harden can come close to providing that level of dominance on the perimeter, the sky’s the limit for this team.
