The Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for fellow guards Ben Simmons and Seth Curry, center Andre Drummond and two first-round picks, ESPN reported Thursday.
The report came approximately 90 minutes before the NBA’s trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET.
The Nets were expected to compete for the NBA title behind Harden and fellow stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But Durant is injured, Irving is a part-time player because of his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and the Nets have dropped nine straight games to fall to eighth place and the play-in position in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Harden, 32, has a hamstring strain and hasn’t played since a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 2.
On the season, Harden has played in 44 games, averaging 22.5 points and a team-leading 10.2 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Simmons has not played this season and asked to be traded. The Simmons camp reportedly cited mental health issues and an inability to mesh on the court with teammate Joel Embiid as reasons for wanting to leave.
Simmons, 25, is a three-time All-Star over his four NBA seasons, scoring 15.9 points with 8.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists in 275 career games, all starts with the 76ers. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Sixers out of LSU in 2016.
Curry, 31, is averaging career-best totals in points (15.0), rebounds (3.4) and assists (4.0) in 45 games this season.
Drummond, 28, is contributing 6.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in 49 games (12 starts).
–Field Level Media