James Harden can help to force his way to the Philadelphia 76ers

The Sacramento Kings are 100 percent out on a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons… until they change their minds.

Portland Trail Blazers are 100 percent about winning now… until they trade away two of their five best players for Eric Bledsoe, Justice Winslow, Keon Johnson, and a second-round pick to get out of the luxury tax.

And, most crucially of all, the Brooklyn Nets won’t even pick up the phone to have trade conversations about James Harden… until they changed their minds. I mean, why not, right? Harden has clearly been unhappy all season long in Brooklyn, increasingly so since Kyrie Irving remains committed to being a part-time player, so why not open up the gates, pull back the curtain, and see what sort of offer Daryl Morey can cook up to reunite with his former franchise player? I mean sure, Simmons is no Harden, but he’s an easy sell to a team who is bad on defense and has more scoring than most, even with Joe Harris on the mend.

Will a deal ultimately go down? Unless Harden seriously elevates his visible level of discretion, I sort of doubt it, but hey, the pursuit is still a worthy one nonetheless, as if you can land a legit Top-75 player of all time, even at the tail end of his prime, you have to do it, especially if he’s on the same page.

James Harden can make things a whole lot easier for the Philadelphia 76ers.

There are two camps that have emerged post-Shams Bomb regarding the acquisition of James Harden: One that believes that the Philadelphia 76ers have all of the leverage and another that believes that the Brooklyn Nets hold the winning hand.

On paper, the latter camp is technically correct. The Nets don’t have to trade Harden if they don’t want to, and there’s no package, offer, or mechanism in the NBA’s bylines that could force a deal if one party says no. The Sixers could offer Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybule, Seth Curry, and every possible pick eligible to be moved to Brooklyn GM Sean Marks, and if he says no, that’s that.

With that in mind, this isn’t a trade between two parties. No, Harden very much has a say in how eager the Nets are to move off of his contract, as he can very much make things easy for Brooklyn in this, the final year of his contract before a summer opt-out, or pull a Houston and make things difficult for his potentially soon-to-be-former franchise. He could put his misgivings about Kyrie Irving’s status aside and leave it all out on the court alongside fellow-former OKC Thunderman Kevin Durant in the relentless pursuit of the first championship of his career, or he could protest, miss further games under the guise of hamstring tightness, or even pull a BS and hold out entirely.

If Harden wants to be moved and makes it abundantly clear to Marks and company that he will not re-sign during the offseason, he can move the needle on a trade more than any offer Morey has to offer. Harden, even at 32, would by far be the best player included in any trade offer between the Sixers and Nets, and thus, retaining his services holds more value in 2022-23, let alone the remainder of this season, than any offer Morey could present to a team looking to win right now. If, however, Harden makes it known that he is willing to leave the team for nothing, or force a sign-and-trade where Brooklyn wouldn’t be returning a three-time All-Star for his services, that could be enough to get the ball rolling.

Considering the specific idiosyncrasies of the afternoon before Charania’s story, Harden getting scratched with hip tightness six hours before Brooklyn’s game against the Utah Jazz, Kyle Neubeck’s reporting that Philly could hold off on any mid-season trade in favor of pursuing a marquee name this summer, and the announcement of Brooklyn’s increasing eagerness to take Morey’s call is pretty much par for the course for this particular time of year.

Make no mistake about it, landing James Harden in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets is the easiest way to elevate the Philadelphia 76ers from “a good team in a wide-open Eastern Conference” to legitimate favorites to win the NBA championship. The player affectionately known as “The Beard” is the sort of elite perimeter offense weapon the Sixers haven’t employed since Allen Iverson oh so many years ago, and any incompatibilities between his game and that of Joel Embiid‘s could easily be glossed over due to the sheer shared power on the court at the same time. If Harden makes it known that he wants out and Brooklyn takes him at his word, a deal could come together rather quickly and may not even need to include Tyrese Maxey to reach the finish line.