Harden left Brooklyn and stayed in Houston until a deal got made

He still loves us

IN THE FINAL minutes of negotiations, Daryl Morey was shouting to Sean Marks: "Stay on the f---ing phone!" Here it was, 1:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, and the Philadelphia 76ers' president of basketball operations had come too far to let this deal die. He implored Marks to stay on the line until they had an agreement on the biggest trade of the year.

"We're going to finish this!" Morey said. He was on the cusp of getting disgruntled star Ben Simmons out of his life and James Harden back into it, the protections on these draft picks were within reach, and Morey wanted it over. For months, everyone had told Morey to settle, cave to the marketplace's mediocre offers and unburden the Sixers of the Simmons saga. To hell with that. Morey wanted Harden, and now it was her

"We're dropping F-bombs now, Daryl?" Marks said, jokin

Here was Morey, the combustible, disheveled, dealmaking junkie with an admitted habit of cursing under stress. Ten years ago, Morey hung up with another front-office son of the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City's Sam Presti, and had himself a far different deal for Harden. That changed Morey's career -- and changed Harden's too. Harden became The Beard, the MVP, a lethal, efficient offensive juggernaut with a franchise bent to his every whim. Together, Morey and Harden launched themselves in Houston, reaching the Western Conference finals, supercharging a historic NBA offense and shuttling co-stars in and out at a breakneck rat

Together they'd gassed the franchise's trade assets on big deals that flamed out -- no fewer than three first-round picks in Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook trades. Both Morey and Harden eventually bailed -- Morey to Philadelphia, Harden to Brooklyn. Only, it turns out, they're like magnets. Morey stayed obsessed with reuniting -- and stopped at nothing to make it happe


He tried and failed to get Harden out of Houston with a package centered on Simmons a year ago, and was on the cusp of finally getting him out of Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon when Marks asked him to wait while he ran the deal by his owner, Joseph Tsai. A reasonable ask under most circumstances, but not after what they'd both been through with their troubled sta


Marks and the Nets had gone from believing Harden was the key to their championship dreams with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, to accepting that they were about to dismantle one of the greatest theoretical super teams after just 16 games played together in two seasons. They weren't happy Harden had gone from the superstar they could count on to the one who was bailing on them, but they also were realis

Marks and Morey have long been on friendly terms, having spent considerable time together in the NBA bubble in 2020. Most might be surprised that nothing became acrimonious in their conversations in recent days. They had proved to be risk-takers throughout their executive careers, and this was the rare risk that gave each team a chance to win a title and solved each other's considerable personnel problem

The Nets will always wonder what could've been had Durant, Irving and Harden been healthy for a full playoff run. But they wanted players who wanted to be there, and and Simmons was ecstatic to join them and restart his troubled career.

Marks stayed on the phone, told Morey that the Sixers had met the Nets' price, and the deal was done. Soon, the Sixers' conference room in Camden, New Jersey -- with GM Elton Brand and coach Doc Rivers at Morey's side -- were on the phone with Harden, celebrating something he and Harden had shared in a far different way a decade ago. Once more, James Harden was leaving Kevin Durant to join Daryl Morey. This time, Morey had Joel Embiid awaiting him.

For the better part of a decade everything in Philadelphia had revolved around The Process. This wasn't a process nor The Process though. It was a mutually beneficial mess that'll shape the NBA landscape for years to come.

 

FROM THE MOMENT Harden reported to training camp this fall, the Nets knew they could have trouble. Durant arrived in San Diego at a world-class level, fresh off brilliant springtime playoffs and Summer Olympics performances and ready to commit to the Nets and his co-stars with a new extension for the next four years.

It was not reciprocal. Harden was heavy and out of shape, and intrigued with the idea of free agency for the first time in his career. Kyrie Irving wasn't interested in an extension, or willing to get vaccinated despite New York's mandate that precluded him from playing home games if he didn't.

Relationships with NBA stars can be delicate, but rarely are they mysterious. Little stays a secret within the NBA community, and Harden was quickly hedging on his future with the Nets, sources said. He kept telling Tsai and Marks he wanted to stay long term, but simultaneously started canvassing player agents for advice on an eventual exit strategy to Philadelphia.

Marks and Tsai spoke to Harden often, but he didn't provide them the counter information he had been feeding to those outside the organization.

"Don't believe any of the rumors," Harden would tell them. "If there's a problem, you'll hear from me directly."


Harden had a reputation as passive-aggressive rather than confrontational, and that was about to create real problems for Brooklyn. Organizations consider information to be the most important commodity of them all, and Harden's conversations with various agents and third parties returned to Brooklyn quickly -- which happens when you seek professional advice without paying for it.

Initially, Harden preferred the prospect of re-signing with the Nets in the summer because Brooklyn still had a chance to win this year, sources said. He could always force a trade later.

In that first season, Durant and Irving missed significant time, leaving Harden alone to shoulder the team's record. This year, Harden had struggled with his conditioning and offensive rule changes that no longer allowed him such easy access to the free throw line.

He had thrived as a lead scorer in Houston, but part of the reason he chose Brooklyn had been an understanding that his advancing age no longer left him capable of carrying outsized scoring expectations for protracted periods.

But co-stars can only help so much. They have to be available, first of all, but Harden also had to change his lifestyle and help himself. It wasn't lost on teammates that Harden continued his late-night social activities, especially on the Nets' last Western Conference trip this month. His play, often dispassionate and sloppy, culminated with a four-point performance in a loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings. Maybe Harden could maintain this lifestyle in his 20s, but it wasn't working now. For a player purporting to have a hand and hamstring injury, this wasn't inspiring confidence within a team in freefall.


All the signs of Harden's displeasure were evident, and a shutdown seemed underway. The Nets kept trusting Harden's assurances that he'd tell them if he no longer wanted to be there, trusting the idea that he'd turn around once Durant returned sometime after the late February All-Star break. He'd turned on them as quickly as he used to turn the corner on defenders. He could turn back just as quickly, they figured.

Finally, as Thursday's trade deadline neared, Harden spoke up and told Marks and Tsai that he preferred to play for the Sixers. For weeks, Harden hoped he could avoid the public backlash of asking out of his second franchise in consecutive years, but his passive-aggressiveness hadn't worked in selling the Nets on the idea they had to move him.

Over FaceTime calls, Harden told his GM and owner that he wanted a trade to Philadelphia, sources said.

The Nets told him that they would only make a deal that was good for the franchise. The Nets had unloaded significant assets to acquire him a year ago -- Cleveland's Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, four first-round draft picks and four pick swaps. Brooklyn couldn't reclaim all of that, but it needed a substantial return on a deadline trade with the Sixers and that would be difficult to do without other teams to leverage.

Harden told them he understood, and they agreed he wouldn't play until after Thursday's trade deadline. Harden had checked out on the organization, a reality made clearer when Harden informed them that he was returning to Houston on Wednesday to wait out the deadline, sources said. The Nets were traveling to Washington having lost their ninth game in a row.

 

SIMMONS HAD BEEN waiting for his future to be settled for more than seven months and was prepared to wait even longer if the Sixers did not find a trade for him on Thursday.

Everyone in his life had encouraged him to try to play again after his playoff meltdown last year against the Atlanta Hawks and subsequent deterioration of his relationship with the Sixers. But he'd held firm to his conviction never to play in Philadelphia again, risking his reputation and over $20 million in fines to prove a poin

Over the past week, agent Rich Paul had been telling Simmons a deal for Harden was possible. In the hours before the trade, Simmons was still telling teammates that he was pessimistic on the chances. He spent Thursday at his home with his family, monitoring social media and news reports. Simmons had built the 10,000-foot mansion in suburban Moorestown, New Jersey, in 2019, the same year he'd agreed to a five-year, $170 million extension to stay with the Sixer

It was supposed to be his forever home. But a little over two years later, Simmons listed it for sale when he refused to report to Sixers training camp. When he returned to Philadelphia in October, he moved back in. But this was temporary housing. He'd stay until he was traded, whenever that was. Simmons never thought the process would take this long when he first asked the team to look for a trade last June. Paul had cautioned him that they had little leverage, and advised him against this strategy. But it was hard for anyone to conceive of how long and ugly the situation would go o

"Nobody really wins in terms of the day-to-day, because you're dealing with a lot of emotions," Paul said. "You're dealing with ego. You're dealing with stubbornness. But ultimately, we understand it's a business and we all got a job to do".

As the trade was nearing completion just 90 minutes before the deadline Thursday, Simmons spoke to Durant and the Nets' executives who spent the day hunkered in a meeting room to execute the trade. He is not a man of many words, but they could all hear the emotion in his voice as he thanked them for trading for him and believing in him.

There would be a less jubilant call on Thursday, and that was with Sixers coach Doc Rivers. In recent weeks, Simmons and Rivers had started speaking again, with conversations increasing in substance. Simmons had never gotten over what he perceived as a lack of public support from Rivers in the aftermath of his playoff meltdown to the Hawks. Throughout the summer, Rivers tried to reach him, but Simmons never responded to the many calls and texts. The final conversation Thursday covered no more of that ground, sources said. This seven-month saga had worn them out, and both were relieved it was over. They exchanged pleasantries, ended the call and both knew they would soon re-engage in what undoubtedly has escalated into the fiercest rivalry in the sport -- Sixers-Nets.

Simmons will take some time to move to Brooklyn and acclimate to his new team. He's planning to continue seeing his therapist and working on his mental health, Paul said. He hasn't played an NBA game since June, so it'll take some time to ramp up his conditioning. Yet now, he's planning to play this season -- which he insisted wouldn't have happened had the Sixers kept him past the trade deadline, sources said. Rivers has to start integrating Harden into the Sixers, which one coaching friend joked should elevate his status on the recently released NBA's Top 15 Coaches of All Time if he's successful. In other words, there will be challenges. But Rivers has always had a good relationship with Harden, and he appreciated that Harden had called to sell him on coaching the Rockets in the summer of 2020. After the Clippers fired Rivers, the Rockets tried to recruit him to Houston, after Mike D'Antoni left the team.

Rivers had heard the stories about Harden's reputation and mostly unchecked behavior in Houston, but figured if Harden was calling him, perhaps that meant he was open to being coached hard. He'll find out soon.


Rivers has been a part of several blockbuster trades in his coaching career, but he's never added a star of Harden's caliber in the middle of the season. In Boston, it took an entire season to bring Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett together to win the 2008 championship. In Los Angeles, he never found a formula to make the Lob City Clippers of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan achieve at a high level. Eight years later, he tried again with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, but had just one pandemic-interrupted season before Clippers owner Steve Ballmer fired him.

Now, Rivers has one more fascinating coaching experiment: How will Harden fit alongside MVP-front-runner Joel Embiid? More than ever, Embiid has flourished as the unquestioned leader of the franchise. And now, here comes Morey's obsession: James Harden and his suspect track record with co-stars. He called for the collaborations with Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and traded each out faster than the last.

While there are obvious synergies to their games, there are also areas of concern. Harden and Embiid both need the ball and the spotlight to thrive. Embiid is beloved in Philadelphia; Harden is beloved by Morey.

Harden might not have a direct history with Embiid, but he has always respected him. He even pushed Morey to try and trade for him in Houston, sources said.

All around the Sixers' locker room, there's a deep curiosity in how they'll mesh. Every set of eyes will be on Embiid and Harden when they step on the court together.

If Morey's burden was to deliver Harden to the franchise, it is now Rivers' burden to make it work on the floor. D'Antoni will assuredly lurk in people's minds until Rivers can make a deep run into the playoffs. Still, there was no fear in his voice when he addressed his staff on Thursday.

"Fortune favors the brave," Rivers told the Sixers.

And so started the Sixers' great experiment.

 

IT ISN'T OFTEN that these massive, landscape-shifting NBA decisions can be rewired so quickly, but that's what was underway on the one-year anniversary of the original trade. The anniversary hadn't been on Simmons' agent's mind, but Rich Paul understood that the simmering issues surrounding Harden's relationship with the Nets could be the opening needed to get his client out of Philadelphia.

While on business in New York on Jan. 13, Paul met with Durant and Durant's business partner, Rich Kleiman. The conversation transitioned to basketball, and Paul made his case for a Harden-Simmons trade, sources said.

Durant initially resisted, but within 48 hours, Durant suffered the MCL injury, and his absence became an accelerant to Harden's spiral with the franchise. In the end, no one can influence Durant's decisions on team-building. These Nets are his creation, and the evolution of the roster comes with his input at the forefront. In this case, there was no decision to be made: Harden made it for everyone.

In the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, Morey and Marks had each postured about their willingness to kick these discussions to the summer. Morey publicly dismissed the likelihood of a trade for Simmons in a radio interview on Jan. 20. The Nets' public messaging was done by coach Steve Nash, who, even on the morning of the trade, cast doubt on its likelihood.

Late Wednesday the posturing began to change, sources said.

Until then, Marks had listened to a couple of Morey's frameworks and told him he wasn't interested. There were no negotiations. Now, the deadline was looming, and the Sixers and Nets had an increasingly common interest in getting a deal done. Harden had left New York, and the idea of bringing him back to mope through the season was less and less appealing. They planned to speak again at 9:30 a.m. ET and see if they could hammer out a deal.

When Philadelphia wouldn't include Mattise Thybulle, Brooklyn insisted on two first-round picks. For both sides, the consequences and cost of doing nothing on Thursday could have had a lasting impact on these franchises. The cost of making those deals could have implications too. There are no sure things in this deal: James Harden and Ben Simmons come with risks and rewards. Ben Simmons waited seven months for his Philadelphia exile to become an exit. Daryl Morey waited 18 months to be reunited with James Harden. Everyone stayed on the bleeping phone long enough to get this trade done on Thursday, and this ever-unstable basketball landscape erupted with dramatic displacement again.