The Philadelphia 76ers have been looking to trade Ben Simmons since the offseason due to his disagreements with the team and refusal to play. The Brooklyn Nets were on a 10 game losing streak and in need of a change. These two factors led to former NBA MVP James Harden, being traded from the Nets in a deal centered around former All Star Ben Simmons.

Here are the full trade details between the two teams:

Brooklyn receives:

Ben Simmons

Seth Curry

Andre Drummond

2022 first-round pick (unprotected)

2027 first-round pick (protected)

Philadelphia receives:

James Harden

Paul Millsap

James Harden was in the midst of his first full season with Brooklyn, following his trade from Houston the season before. He was stuck on a rebuilding team in Houston and demanded a trade to a contender. Harden, along with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, seemed to be the best team last season, but they were unable to get past the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs. This season was full of obstacles for the Nets. Kyrie Irving sat out the beginning of the season and now only plays on road games (due to his vaccination status and NY state rules). Kevin Durant recently suffered an injury which left Harden as the only member of this big 3 playing on a nightly basis. There were rumors that he wanted out of Brooklyn and Philadelphia was ready to acquire him.

This trade away from Brooklyn means that the Harden-Irving-Durant trio only played a total of 16 games together. Had they remained healthy, they could have been one of the greatest trios to ever play together, but there were too many interferences.

For Philadelphia, dealing Ben Simmons had been their main objective for a while. He was unlikely to ever play for them again, so this makes sense. The package of Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and 2 first round picks is a lot, but the production that they will get from James Harden will make it worth it. The combination of MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid and James Harden put the 76ers with the Brooklyn Nets as a frontrunner to win the Eastern Conference.

The two centerpieces of the trade, Simmons and Harden, are both not ready to make their debuts, but hopefully they will soon. The 76ers and Nets matchup against each other on March 10th in Philadelphia for the revenge game for each player involved in the trade.