Two of the premier players in today’s NBA may find themselves on new teams come Friday. Thursday is the NBA’s trade deadline, an exciting time for fans across the NBA landscape. Some big deals have occurred, mainly including the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, and Portland Trail Blazers, but could we see deals being made by the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets? I wouldn’t count on it.
There has been a slew of rumors running rampant across NBA analysts’ desks that James Harden is supposedly being shopped around by the Brooklyn Nets, even though Head Coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks have vehemently denied the rumors this past week. Even though they deny it, it wouldn’t be the first time an organization has ruled out a possibility, then turned around and done exactly what they just denied.
Whether they do or don’t trade James Harden, I’m just here to ask one question; does it make sense? In my opinion, no, it doesn’t make sense at all. The Brooklyn Big-3 experiment has not gone as planned, due to a whole slew of reasons. I don’t know the exact numbers, but what I do know is that Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant have not been on the floor all at once for many games. We haven’t even seen the full potential of this team when it’s healthy, so why pull the plug before even giving it a chance? James Harden is a star in this league. However, he could greatly benefit from having both Kyrie and Durant on the floor with him; who wouldn’t?
Another NBA superstar who has had his name in the tabloids for quite a while is Ben Simmons, who was infamously torn to shreds by Philadelphia sports fans last year for his role in the 76ers key playoff loss. Was the hate warranted? No, not at all. I think many fans are forgetting about the amount of hate Kobe Bryant used to get in his first years as a Laker, and how much he struggled in the playoffs. However, Kobe took that struggle and turned it into fuel, churning out five championships with the Lakers in the succeeding years.
Now I am not comparing Ben Simmons to Kobe Bryant by any stretch of the imagination, but Simmons is going through something very similar to what Bryant did in L.A in his early years. I think many people forget that Simmons is an NBA All-Star, and will instantly turn any team he goes to into a contender. Does he have many areas of his game he needs to refine? Who doesn’t? But the bottom line is that the 76ers are better with Simmons on the floor than they are without, and he’s not playing is entirely the fault of the organization. From his fellow teammate throwing him under the bus in a press conference to his coach not even contacting him when they were both in the same city in California during the summertime, something just feels off about the 76ers organization.
I think the best thing the 76ers could do to fix their karma would be to trade Simmons and let him go to a team where he can properly develop and prosper because that obviously will not happen in Philadelphia. I do hope for his sake he is traded to a team where he will be appreciated because all this hate surrounding athletes, in general, is completely unwarranted.
Some teams I would love to see Ben Simmons on including the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Orlando Magic. The Trail Blazers would be getting younger by acquiring Simmons, and hopefully building a team around him for the years to come. The Thunder and Magic both have a slew of young stars on their roster, and Simmons would more than fit the bill. His playoff experience could even propel the teams to new heights and could act as a mentor to the younger guys as well.
All I know is that Simmons is a great player, who oozes unrefined talent, and I know he will have a successful career; it just wont be in Philly.