Rumors have surfaced in the last few months of Philadelphia’s desire to land Nets guard James Harden in a trade for Ben Simmons, but the pieces had not aligned for the franchise to do so.
However, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, discussions for a Harden-Simmons swap could be heating up. With the NBA trade deadline in six days, the 76ers are expected to pursue Harden in the next few days and the Nets are open to discussing a deal.
Initially, 76ers president of basketball operations Darryl Morey did not believe he would be able to acquire his top target for Simmons before the league’s deadline. On Jan. 28, it was reported that Philadelphia had been centered around putting together a deal to land Harden or another high-caliber player during the offseason instead of dealing Simmons during the season.
