There have been reports recently stating that the Sixers will pursue James Harden ahead of the trade deadline on February 10, and that the Nets would be open to those discussions.
However, in a media session with reporters Sunday afternoon, Nets head coach Steve Nash said that the team is not trading Harden, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
“I’ve talked to James and he wants to be here,” Nash said. “And he wants to be here long term as well.”
When asked if that meant the Nets are not trading Harden, Nash replied, “Yes.”
“This has been a constant thing since the summer,” Nash said, per Bondy. “He’s continually reiterated that he wants to be here, and we’ve continually said that we want him here and that that’s our best chance to win. So nothing’s changed.”
Harden, who’s dealing with left hamstring tightness, will miss his second straight game Sunday with the injury. The team is being cautious with Harden after he dealt with a nagging hamstring injury late last season that affected his playoff performance.
“The scan is pretty good but there’s a strain — there’s a tightness, sorry, not a strain — there’s a tightness and a strength deficit. So, for us, we just don’t want to take any chances. We know last year we lost him for an extended period and we want to be conservative and make sure he resumes full strength so there isn’t an extended absence,” Nash said.
The Nets are on a seven-game losing streak and currently hold a 29-23 record, sixth in the East.
If someone offers “significant haul’, trade will go down
Significant Haul Example
3 way deal that sends Jaylen Brown and John Collins to Nets for Harden
They won’t. I’m honestly not sure if Harden is a positive asset anymore. He’s had his moments this year, but he’s out of shape and 32, plays no more defense than he ever has (probaby less), and is on a $45+m a year contract for next year too (and can opt out if he’s feeling ornery, which he usually is). No one’s gonna want that except the Lakers for Westbrook or the Rockets for Wall.
As I said, Harden will be traded, the odd 5%
76ers panic
Simmons value is going down
I think KD has stated that he wants to play with Harden and if they are going to make a deal, to trade Kyrie. I don’t know what type of return Kyrie would net at this point, but I can’t see it being a whole lot. BRK will not win in the playoffs(if they make it)with their team as Is, and the assets they have outside of the “BIG 3”, are very, very limited. They are going to have to figure something out to improve the team defense and find a capable scorer other than the 3, especially if Kyrie continues to only play road games. I think James is taking his time with the hamstring so that Kyrie can play on the road, and Harden at home, giving then a star PG on the court for every game.
The owner will have to pay a significant luxury tax bill if he stays.
If the owner wants him out, if Harden wants out you make a move.
You still have Durant and Kyrie to score. Ben helps out by D-ing up the best offense player on the other team. The ball will not be in his hands at the end of the game anyway those other two.
Saying that is to drive up the offer 76ers make. I don’t see it happening though. I trade simmons in offseason for Beal or lillard (if either wants out)
No Morey is probably offering a lot for Harden he loves Harden Nets just probably aren’t taking calls on Harden. The Harden rumors you really made no sense to me he forced his way out of Houston to go to Brooklyn why would he leave?
Morey loves Harden, absolutely- but he’s also realistic,and he is fine with trading Simmons for a player(s)to help the team improve this season and in the next few years as well.
I don’t think that he really cares when/if he trades Simmons- I actually think he’d like to see him sit for 4 years, but for the good of the team, he’s probably going to make a move by the deadline -with one or more of these teams ATL/SAC/MIN/WAS,POR
possibly moving some of these players/picks along with Simmons/T.Harris/D.Green/
J.Springer,I.Joe, C.Bassey,/ picks- maybe to get a package of something like:Bradley Beal,a natural scorer/shooter who can be the 1/1a scoring option that they are looking for w/Embiid. John Collins,(who will help the offensive rebounding woes the team struggles with comstantly,& improved D, H.Barnes,a true 3/D wing, who will be an offensive upgrade when Thybulle is not in the game.
Simmons,Harris,Springer & D.Bertans to SAC
D.Fox,I.Joe, K.Huerter, Sac ’22 1st rd(top 5 protected), & PHI ’22 & ’23 2nd rd picks to WAS
B.Hield, M.Bagley,D.Green C.Bassey,& PHI 1st rd pick ’22 to ATL
Something along those lines where the team upgrades its biggest needs, high level scorer from the 2/3 spot, and Rebounder at the 4, without losing Defense/scoring at the position.
If Harden is available (or Beal) now you pull the trigger. You do not wait. Don’t waste a golden opportunity to win the East for a what if situation.
I agree but they both aren’t available.
One year ago Harden did everything he could to force his way to Brooklyn. Why would there even be trade rumors?
He has checked out. It did not work out like he expected. The Kyrie situation is bothering him.
Yeah…no
Take it from Philly Philly he has James Harden on speed dial.
Nash is saying what everyone familiar with the BKN situation already knew. Marks will sit down with whoever. But BKN is focused on this year, and there’s nothing out there that would come close to improving their chances. They’ll see in offseason what’s next, and the truth is that’s not likely to be materially different with or without a deadline deal.
I think BRK is starting to realize that 6 weeks w/out KD, Kyrie only playing on the road, and Hardens injury flare ups,won’t be enough to get to the finals, and realistically may not get them to the playoffs this year. However, they invested alot to get to this point, and they may as well see it through otherwise they will always have that ‘what if ” question following them around. If Harden does opt for FA, they can always say they tried, and also do a sign and trade with him, rather than to watch him just leave.
Nets are smart gave up Carris, Allen and all them picks Nets would so so dumb to trade Harden after just one season which wasn’t their fault.
Ben, Curry. Bassey. #1 pick …….. lol
Imo Maxey has to be included for it to get done. I’m Nets I want Bassey too
76erw aren’t giving up Maxey. You are smart to want Bassey though, he would be playing big min if he wasn’t being Embiid and Drummond. He’d probably start for a dozen teams
Nets use rumor as tactic?
They want Harden to make commitment
I guess that Nets send rumors to Sham
Harden looks disinterested. He wants out and he wants to play with Embiid.
If you are the Nets you get what you can now and do not let this drag out.
With Toronto, Boston and Atlanta surging in the standings and an incomplete dysfunctional roster, Brooklyn’s only hope is for KD to come back and carry this team.
Reminder: Since the achilles tear KD has been spectacular when healthy but only in short samples.
20-21, 35 gms. Playoffs, 12 gms
Olympics, 6 gms.
21-22, 36 gms.
He will soon be in uncharted territory for his body since having the injury and Brooklyn has to rely heavily on him to be competitive at 34 years old. They still have 30 games left, a very possible play-in, and playoff run.
Kyrie has crippled this team and there is no way to be successful with part-time commitment. If they think so, they don’t understand how much it takes to win a championship.
We’re not even the All Star Break and you’re hitting the panic button…take a deep breath.
Boston has won what like 3 games in a row? Are they even above .500? Idk if “surging” is the term I’d use.
And in fact Nets have been successful despite Kyrie not even playing up until the last week or two. Now they’re missing their best player and dealing with injuries. Not a hot take that they’ll slide a little.
You want to talk about “short samples”? What is Nets record before 2 weeks ago when the world suddenly flipped upside down because the media started floating unsubstantiated rumors?
This folks, is why 2K exists. So people can make reactionary boneheaded takes then simply hit the reset button like it never happened.
Cronin said he wasn’t going to make a big trade either then what happened…..
This is just a ploy to make the Sixers up their offer a little more. Say they want to keep him and he’s happy and we are moving forward blah blah blah.
All of a sudden the Sixers offer an extra first round pick or something and bam done deal and Nash comes out and says he was blown away by the offer and believes he can help make Ben an elite talent again.
Why would Morey care about what Nash has to say? It isn’t his decision about what happens with Harden. I’m not sure you understand how this all works…
It isn’t his decision but he gets a big say in changes to the roster.
Nash publicly saying he wants to keep Harden and that Harden wants to stay with us. It’s like saying your deal isn’t good enough and if you don’t improve it the player is happy to stay here, we want him to stay and are happy to not accept your offer.
Notice the comments on Harden injury aswell. Sixers in negotiating maybe said we don’t want to give up more because he’s injured. We can get him in the offseason when he’s fully healthy and his value is lower as he’s a FA.
So in reply they are coming out saying it’s not a strain it’s just some tightness and we plan on nursing him back to full strength.
Just little chess moves to try bring up the value a little bit. Puts the pressure back onto Morey, Now he has to up his offer if he wants to get Harden.
As one of the previous articles said it’ll probably take some time to hash over all the little sweeteners and draft picks etc if a deal happens. This is just all apart of that process.
Like I said Cronin did the same thing with the clippers. Said we aren’t making any big deals then all of a sudden a 5 player trade happen. He probably said that to drive up the price then the clippers attached the extra pick and he was happy.
I think a Simmons for Harden deal gets done before the deadline but if not I’m 99% confident it’ll happen in the offseason
Idk…I’m not behind the scenes so I can’t say whether you’ll be right or wrong…I just don’t get the impression that Morey would feel pressure or care at all about what Steve Nash thinks.
I’m not sure he cares what anyone thinks for that matter, other than himself.
Do you have inside knowledge?
No inside knowledge, I just no there always something happening behind the scenes.
To be fair, Cronin just said the Blazers weren’t going to do a roster teardown. There’s still time for them to make more moves, but I don’t think that statement is inaccurate yet — trading Powell and Covington doesn’t really constitute a “teardown.”
Depends what they mean by tear down. But Powell was someone recently signed to a deal and Covington was a starter.
They have said they won’t trade Nurkic.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a tear down but if they make another move then it may aswell be
Portland is going to give their fans what they want, keep Dame and Anfernee Simons as the building blocks, trade CJ for the best deal they can get with talented players at the 3/4/5,+ picks.Trade any other salary they can move to clear space, and try to get the best team they can to give Dame a chance to win a ring in Portland. Not sure how it will pan out, but that’s the plan.
If this is truly the plan it’s not the roster that needs to turn over it’s the front office. There is 0 chance for Dame to win a ring in Portland no matter what moves they make. It’s checkmate as of like a year ago.
Harden has become overpaid, overage, overhyped and declining in every category that made him moreys favorite including reliability. Hamstring not good. The Sixers are in the hunt for the too seed without Simmons and harden, while the nets plummet. Morey holds every card and should wait for the wizards to finally throw in the towel.
Not sure how having a player who refuses to play for you under a hefty contract for multiple seasons is exactly “holding all the cards” Both Beal and Harden could very, and I mean VERY easily return to their respective teams. Basically the opposite of what you’re saying is true. All teams have to do is wait for Embiid to force something or Morey to come crawling back to the Kings because everyone else found better fits at lower asks.
Wizards have stunk for the last few years too btw, not like they have a real big ambition to trade beal for “win now” talent. And they just fleeced the Lakers in the off season. If they do intend on blowing it up I’m not sure why you think they’d be aiming to compete next 2 seasons.
Fact …. Harden hasn’t signed an extension.
Fact ……. Nets aren’t winning with half way Kyrie. Doesn’t look good for Harden wanting to stay. So I’d say the Philly thing is real. Taking into account his friendship with owner. And Moreyons infatuation with Harden. So get ready for Thursday.
Steve, appropriate answer to this wuestion is ‘I will let the front office do their job and I will do mine. Right now we just want to focus on winning games and ignore the gossip.”
A real, veteran, experienced coach (other than Doc Rivers) would know this is not what coaches should be commenting on, adding fuel to the fire. I don’t blame writers for asking, as this adds to an existing storyline so that they can lazily write another meta story instead of analyzing game play.