Rumors surrounding James Harden and the Sixers reached a fever pitch over the weekend, before Morey publicly announced that the team would not trade Simmons, before reports surfaced that Daryl Morey had put Ben Simmons on the trading table.
(Whether they are yet to be seen.)
We’re just a day away from the start of the NBA regular season and stay on the hard rockets, and after Monday the market seems to be shrinking for at least somewhat brief superstars.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhourst, the Miami Heat has pulled out of the Harden Sweepstakes, which has been plugged into the Miami organization since LeBron James made South Beach a basketball home a decade ago.
Here’s what Windhurst reports:
Sources told ESPN that after talking harshly about James Harden’s trade, the Miami Heat has moved on and will not pursue the Houston Rockets star.
“[…]
“The Rockets are also exploring significant draft assets in the Harden deal and the Heat may currently offer only a first-round pick of 2027 in the trade. For this reason, discussions on the Rockets side have not gone too far,” the sources said.
That makes sense, and a joke from an earlier report that the Rockets want three (!) First-round picks from the Sixers in addition to Ben Simmons in Harden’s trade.
As far as what it means in Harden’s constant search for sixes, here’s a collection of draft pick sixes over the next five years:
- 2021
- 2021G (Knicks)
- 2022
- 2023
- 2023 2G
- 2023 II (Atlanta, Charlotte or Brooklyn)
- 2024th
- 2024 2G
- 2024 2G (Miami)
- 2025 m
Since teams are unable to trade first-round picks in consecutive seasons, if the Rockets want three first-round picks from the Sixers, they will look to first-rounders in 2021, 2023 and 2026. I don’t see Daryl More. Leaving a player like Simmons * and * those choices for Harden.
If Houston doesn’t really want draft picks, here’s a more tasty guessing package for Sixers fans:
- HOU receives: Ben Simmons, Mattis Thibule, 2021 1st, 2023 1st, 2023 2nd (Atlanta, Charlotte or Brooklyn)
- Receives PHI: James Harden, PJ Tucker, 2021 2G (HUH)
That’s where I want to be: Houston gets the capital of its draft, which includes a potentially favorable second-round in 2023, while the Sixers get two players and a peak back. Then again, I’m not Daryl Moore. We’ll see if the Sixers pull the trigger or decide to move to 2020-21 with their current roster.
The Sixers will open a regular season on December 23 against the Wizards. You can watch and stream the game on the NBC Sports Philadelphia and My Teams app.
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