NBA trade deadline 2022: Ben Simmons, James Harden and the league’s wildest game of chicken
Whatever denials might exist as the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers stage a high-stakes game of NBA trade deadline chicken, sources across the league said Monday there absolutely is a chance of a James Harden–Ben Simmons trade happening before 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
It is a complex and uncertain negotiation, the likes of which the NBA rarely sees. And it has put this deadline on a razor’s edge: The league will either witness a title-shifting blockbuster that could shape the next few years or a temporary reprieve that sets up an offseason showdown between the same teams.
Here are the key stakeholders:
Ben Simmons
Simmons has been fined nearly $20 million already this season and badly wants out of Philadelphia. Going through all this and landing in Brooklyn could be declared a win. If there’s no deal, he could end up fighting the Sixers in what could be a gruesome arbitration over his salary.
Harden turned down a $160 million extension last fall with the hope of signing a $220 million extension in the summer but is having his worst offensive season in a decade and has missed a quarter of his team’s games over the past two seasons.
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers have gone 16-5 since Christmas but are likely underdogs against the Bucks, a healthy Nets team and perhaps even the Heat, if the Sixers have to start a playoff run with their current roster — and thus could face intense scrutiny for not moving Simmons and wasting an MVP campaign from 27-year-old Joel Embiid.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are currently in an 0-8 freefall and watched Harden stage what, to the outside world, looked like a “trade me” protest during their miserable Western Conference trip last week. To put it in perspective, last season Harden had a streak of 450 consecutive regular-season games scoring in double figures snapped only because he suffered an injury. That streak was back up to 44 until his low-energy, four-point showing in 37 minutes in Sacramento. The only thing worse? His woeful defensive effort.
Irving and Durant worked behind the scenes to recruit Harden at enormous expense less than 13 months ago and are known to have tremendous influence on Nets’ major roster moves. Injuries and absences, not success, have defined their time together. If the Nets trade Harden this week, it would be a tacit acknowledgement that the experiment failed.
All of these factions and sub-factions have angles to play in this unfolding drama.
“It may come down to which side is more comfortable living with the status quo [if nothing happens],” one general manager says. “Both sides probably want to create leverage by saying they don’t need to do anything, but you can see why both have reason to.”
That has been the posture both sides have taken in the past several days, each daring the other to make the first move. But it has not stopped back-channel conversations and movement by intermediaries, multiple league sources say. The game, however it might play out, is on.
The Sixers and Nets have proceeded with other trade calls in recent days, sources say. The Nets, for their part, are looking to see if there is a market for injured guard Joe Harris, while the Sixers are looking for a way to move Tobias Harris — potentially to clear cap space in the summer to sign Harden outright.
But these talks could just as well be a smokescreen, a masquerade by both parties to make it seem like each has more options than just a Harden-Simmons swap.
But every conversation, every move and countermove, before Thursday afternoon will pass through the lens of being part of the negotiation.
While Philadelphia and Brooklyn remain locked in a standoff, other teams continue to canvas the league for available players and deals after the Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers unofficially kick-started the trade market with their five-player deal. Here’s some other intel from league executives and agents as the deadline nears:
• Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal is scheduled to get his injured wrist reevaluated early this week, and that’s the only drama around him at the moment. The Wizards’ intention is to keep Beal on a five-year deal this summer if he becomes an unrestricted free agent, and the Wizards have heard nothing from Beal that indicates he’s not committed to being there, sources say. If he were to have a change of heart later, Beal still has a player option in his pocket; he could pick it up and try to force a trade in July and later extend his contract to get the five-year deal he desires.
• While a number of teams have interest in Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant, no offers have seriously progressed as of Monday, sources say. Rival teams believe the Pistons, who are on their way to another high draft pick, might want to see where they fall in the draft and which players might be available before making a decision on Grant, who is extension eligible this summer.
• The Boston Celtics, winners of 12 of 15, are engaged with several teams on deals that could reduce their payroll under the luxury tax line but also keep the momentum of their recent hot streak. The Milwaukee Bucks have had discussions about Dennis Schroder, and the Celtics have some interest in Donte DiVincenzo, sources say. The Bucks were unable to sign DiVincenzo to a contract extension last fall and have tested his value with several teams in recent days.
• The Indiana Pacers might not be done. Armed with two picks in this upcoming draft that were acquired Sunday for Caris LeVert, they are looking to make another move, sources say. They are believed to be one of the teams interested in Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum. Both Ricky Rubio, acquired by the Pacers from the Cavaliers on Sunday, and Robert Covington, acquired by the Clippers on Friday, could be on the move again before Thursday, sources say.
• The New York Knicks remain interested in moving one or two of their veteran players as they look to create playing time for younger options, sources say. In recent days, they have shown interest in trading for players with expiring contracts in an apparent effort to clear salary-cap space this summer.
• The Toronto Raptors are offering the expiring contract of Goran Dragic and draft picks as they look for a wing player and a big man, sources say. They are 14-6 in 2022 and have leapt into the top six in the East, but the Raptors’ bench is thin and their starters have been playing unsustainably heavy minutes.
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