Kevin Durant and James Harden should be far from friends following the way the Beard left the Brooklyn Nets earlier in 2022. But now KD himself wants out in the offseason, so it seems things are better between them. There has been speculation that the Philadelphia 76ers could somehow get in on the hunt for Durant themselves.
While there are no serious reports about it, it’s hard to eliminate any team from the sweepstakes since there is no clear favorite at the moment. And Bill Simmons has addressed the Durant-Harden relationship in the middle of all this. Speaking on the Bill Simmons podcast, he wondered what was going on considering that Durant and Harden were barely on speaking terms following the trade at the deadline.
“KD and Harden, this is what I heard, they don’t talk after the trade. They basically go radio silent on each other. They run into each other. They hang out all weekend. And by the end of the weekend, KD is sniffing around on Philly. And there’s a whole Philly thing that happens for three days where it’s like basically Harris and Tyrese Maxey and whatever pick and it’s just it’s not even close.”
The Philadelphia 76ers certainly look ready to challenge for the title this season. With Harden taking a pay cut and them picking up valuable role players, a run to the Finals is a very decent possibility. And while it wouldn’t be ideal to lose the likes of Tyrese Maxey, a Big 3 of Harden, Durant, and Embiid is very tantalizing.
Ultimately, this is all speculation though, there isn’t all that much to discuss on this front. There are other teams with a lot of assets interested in Durant, and the Nets have turned down better offers than what Philly could give them. It’s an interesting situation to think about, though.
