We have reached the point in the 2021-22 NBA season where all of the posturing and other antics that are done through the media have all been used up and we can get a bit of a clearer picture of who is available, who is not, who needs to make a deal, and who needs to stand pat. When it comes to the Philadelphia 76ers (Sixers) and the Brooklyn Nets, they both fall under the “need to make a move” category but for two completely different reasons. For the Sixers, the need is obvious. They have had Ben Simmons sitting on the sidelines for the entire season because he is demanding a trade, and they are looking to capitalize on an all-time great season by Joel Embiid, another outstanding year from Tobias Harris, and the emergence of guard Tyrese Maxey.

For the Nets, they have now lost seven straight games and eight of their last ten contests in total since Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury in mid-January. The team chemistry is lacking and it has a lot to do with Harden's inability to support Kyrie Irving's refusal to be vaccinated. Irving's stance on the vaccine has caused him to miss games with the team and Harden has seemed to begrudge him for it. Harden has not only refused to sign his contract extension just like Durant and Irving did last year but he is actually rumored to prefer a trade out of Brooklyn.

So, with both Simmons and Harden possibly looking for new homes, it gets the mind wondering…what would a trade that centered around these two superstars have to look like in order to make the salary cap numbers work? It's actually not as complicated as one would think; here is one trade example that we came up with:

Sixers receive: James Harden

Nets receive: Ben Simmons, Georges Niang, 2023 2nd round-pick (Hawks have the right to swap that pick so it might be the Hawks 2023 second-rounder)

The NBA's Eastern Conference is up for the taking if any team can get hot in the playoffs and Sixers general manager Daryl Morey has got to be smelling the blood in the water. If he can turn Simmons' trade demand into James Harden, it could be the move that pushes Philadelphia from Eastern Conference contender to NBA powerhouse. The Sixers do not have much to lose from the trade, considering Simmons is refusing to play, and they can also take solace in the fact that Harden is interested in signing with them long-term. Although a trade for Harden essentially boils down to a rest-of-season rental, because he has a player option that he is likely to decline in the summer, it is still worth the risk so that they can try and bring an NBA title to Philadelphia for the first time since 1983.

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Setting all of the ironies aside about how Harden demanded his way to Brooklyn, only to possibly be traded away from the team before his contract expired, this is a festering situation for the Nets, to say the least. As we pointed out in an article earlier on Friday, no team has ever lost seven straight games and then went on to win the NBA Championship in the same season. It may hurt to bite the bullet here for Brooklyn, seeing as they just traded for Harden a little more than a year ago, but if the Nets are going to make history, they might need to start by changing a little bit of their past.

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