James Harden could be one of the names that will leave their current squad and find a new home in the NBA before the 2022 trade deadline strikes. The Beard has struggled to make an impact on the Brooklyn Nets, which opened the door to many trade rumors, including a swap for Philadelphia 76ers disgruntled star Ben Simmons.
Many things have been said about this, with contradicting reports suggesting Harden is on his way out of Brooklyn, while others say he’s staying put at Barclays Center. The trade deadline is two days away and nobody knows what really will happen with this situation. Still, Harden remains the subject of many rumors around the league.
He will miss tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics, marking the third straight game he misses due to a hamstring injury. This report gave a green light to fans to speculate about the real reasons why Harden isn’t playing.
Besides the fans claiming he’s on his way out of the Nets, another rumor surfaced, adding fuel to that idea. One person said that the 2018 NBA MVP is intentionally being held out of the game against the Boston Celtics.
Jack Settleman (via NBA Central) claims that Harden is intentionally being held out of tonight’s game.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1491109560140316672
Settleman clarifies that this doesn’t mean he’s 100% headed to Philadelphia, but it shows that both teams are working on getting a done deal before the deadline strikes this Thursday.
This does NOT guarantee James Harden will be a Sixer by the end of the day. Rather, it confirms what I've been told.
This thing will go down to the deadline at 4pm EST on Thursday.
Both sides are in a massive leverage battle right now.
— Jack Settleman (@jacksettleman) February 8, 2022
Harden has been rumored to be frustrated with how the Nets are working right now. He left the Houston Rockets trying to have a different role in a contender, but the Nets have forced him to become the main guy once again. Kevin Durant is sidelined and Kyrie Irving is a part-time player, leaving no choice for Harden.
Perhaps this trade would be the best for both Sixers and Nets and their unhappy players. We have time to see how this situation plays out but is very likely that we see a major trade between these two teams before the trade deadline.
