The Philadelphia 76ers made out OK after the Ben Simmons drama of the 2021-22 season. They not only managed to get rid of him, but they managed to acquire James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets and are one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. However, a rising star was reportedly also available in a deal for Simmons, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Harden was always “atop [the Sixers’] wish list,” Fischer wrote in a story published May 8, even when some up-and-coming names were also being floated.
“It didn’t matter that Sacramento, according to league sources, had put future All-Star Tyrese Haliburton on the proverbial table, [neither did] the conversations with Atlanta that would have shed Tobias Harris’ contract, along with Simmons’ disinterest in sticking around South Philly,” Fischer reported.
Haliburton wound up getting traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Domantas Sabonis, among others, and the Sixers have been a top-3 seed both years they have had Harden. In Haliburton, they would have acquired a 21-year-old player on a rookie-scale contract and would have gotten the opportunity to offer him an extension or maintain control over him in restricted free agency.
James Harden’s Exit From Sixers May Be ‘an Inevitability’
Ari Alexander of Click2Houston.com reported that Harden’s return to the Houston Rockets is being treated as inevitable.
“What I’ve heard in league circles is similar to what many Rockets fans are reading — that James Harden’s return is being treated as an inevitability. Harden has one year remaining on his deal with the 76ers but is expected to opt out and either seek a new deal or sign with the Rockets,” Alexander wrote in a story published May 5.
Alexander wrote that Harden has several connections with Houston, one of which is with young Rockets guard Jalen Green.
“Harden is very comfortable in Houston, with a home, restaurant, and all of his favorite haunts,” Alexander wrote. “He’s said to have [a] good relationship with Jalen Green (they’re close through both typical basketball events and as faces of Adidas Basketball, where Green regularly wears Harden’s signature shoes).”
Exec Proposes a Swap: John Collins for Ben Simmons
An NBA executive told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney that the Nets are looking for a scoring big — someone like the Atlanta Hawks’ John Collins — but that it won’t be easy to pull off a trade for one.
“The Nets want some guys who can score, and [Collins] can score,” the executive said. “But the only way [the Nets] can really do something big — can really get someone who can score in there — is if they can get a taker for Ben Simmons.”
The exec said Simmons could fit on a team like the Hawks.
“There aren’t a lot of teams where that would make sense, but Atlanta is one of them because you need to build a defensive group around Trae Young,” the executive said. “Now, if you’re the Nets, you still have to convince Atlanta that Simmons wants to play. Obviously, that is the question around him right now.”
Collins helped the Hawks beat the Sixers in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals.
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Sixers Were Offered Rising NBA Star for Ben Simmons Before Harden Trade: Report