The blockbuster trade that felt at times like pure absurdity, fan fiction, or trade machine overload has actually happened. The Brooklyn Nets are trading 2018 MVP James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for a package centered around disgruntled 25-year-old star Ben Simmons. After the Nets parted with Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, and a near decade's worth of picks for Harden just over a year ago, they're moving on without ever really getting the chance to see how one of the best theoretical offenses in history might look at full strength.

It wasn't even one month ago that Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant went to Chicago and eviscerated a first-place Bulls team. But the “scary hours” dream never truly materialized. Report after report came out recently indicating Harden wanted to play for Daryl Morey, his former GM, in Philly alongside the Sixers' own MVP candidate, Joel Embiid.

There will be plenty of time to unpack how we got to this point. Harden never looked very comfortable this season, with a combination of not having had a chance to practice last summer (instead rehabbing a hamstring issue), new rule changes geared toward limiting non-basketball moves, and acclimating to life without the spacing and attention Irving might have commanded if he were a full-time player all playing a a role in his regression.

By making this trade, GM Sean Marks and the Nets are effectively stating, “We were very worried about losing Harden to free agency this summer, and we were also very worried about building around him for the type of contract he could have commanded.”

Despite numerous credible reports that Harden (recently) vowed to Kevin Durant and Co. he wanted to stay put, clearly the Nets were very worried Harden would seek change of scenery come summer.

We can also safely infer that the team had major reservations about offering Harden a five-year deal that would have earned him a record-breaking $270 million deal. At times this season, Harden, 32, didn't look like a max player, so questions about how he may look by age 37 (eligible to earn over $60 annually by then) proved difficult for Marks to resolve.

This deal instead focuses on a 25-year-old Defensive Player of the Year runner-up under contract through 2025, which will be Simmons' age-28 season. The Nets can now boast perhaps the best offensive combination in the NBA with Durant and Irving, while onboarding a versatile “queen-of-the-chessboard” defender who can provide best-in-class defense on stars as diverse in skill and size as Trae Young, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or even James Harden.

The Nets can now opt to go to a more switch-heavy lineup and shift Irving to point guard. Coach Steve Nash has recently talked about how everyone has had to sacrifice in terms of his most comfortable role. That's no longer the case with Harden packing his bags.

The Nets can also now feel comfortable that their most important players want to be in that locker room. Sam Amick of The Athletic recently noted that Simmons kept in shape and might need a few weeks to ramp up for game action. Simmons has spent the season out for personal reasons citing mental health, and ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported Thursday that he'll work with his therapist to get mentally ready to play in Brooklyn. It has also been reported recently that he is vaccinated, with that news coming via Shelburne just days before trade talks picked up between the two teams. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Critics of this deal could cite Simmons' infamous lack of a jump shot as the biggest problem here. The Nets might have feared Harden leaving in free agency, but the Sixers would have had to move mountains to garner a max offer and even then Harden would only have been eligible for a contract totaling about $209 million. If the Nets kept him and Harden chose to opt in for the final year of his deal, he would have needed the Nets' cooperation to trade him. In that scenario, The Beard might have made upwards of $274 million.

Critics can also fairly wonder if Harden would have chosen a scenario where he cost himself $61 million and a fifth year. If anyone doubts he would have been willing to cost himself that much cash, it begs the question: if Harden wanted to get to $270 million, then he would have needed the Nets to trade him, and they might have been able to net a similar (if somewhat diminished haul) come summer.

The most valid forms of criticism here ask this: “How much of this package might the Nets have been able to net if they stayed the course but couldn't change Harden's mind come summer and called the Sixers only then?”

But Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report recently hopped on a podcast with The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor and talked about how the Nets had all of the leverage ahead of this deadline. And that would have flipped like an “hourglass” if this went to the summer. So Nets fans frustrated to part with a three-time scoring champion can take solace in the fact their GM pulled the trigger when he held all the leverage.

O'Connor recently wrote one of the best versions we've seen on Simmons' potential fit in Brooklyn. The Nets have the shooters now (e.g. Joe Harris, Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Durant and Irving) to unleash the best version of Simmons. With the ball in Irving's hands they can open up his short-roll game to a degree the Sixers never could. Simmons has never had a true pull-up threat guard to run pick-and-roll. Now he has two of the best in history at just that in KD and Kyrie. Simmons has played some of the best basketball of his career at Barclays Center, as Nets fans know all too well:

In the end, this all happened fast. Just a couple weeks ago it felt like the biggest Nets worry was if the Big 3 could get out on the court together and if they'd all stay together for the long haul. Within a matter of days, there's an entirely new version of the Brooklyn Nets.

But at least the team now knows everyone here wants to play for the Nets. Durant is signed on long-term deal, as is Simmons. That leaves Kyrie as the last All-Star domino. Now we can turn our attention back to possible changes to local vaccine mandate policy, and whatever else the Nets have via trade or buyout market.