The Ben Simmons saga in Philly is over.
The news: The Brooklyn Nets will trade James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for Simmons, the former NBA rookie of the year.
- Big names Seth Curry and Andre Drummond, as well two first-round picks were also included in the deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
- Brooklyn Nets get: Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks.
- Philadelphia Sixers receive: Simmons, Paul Millsap.
Why this matters: The trade puts an end to an ongoing question about what would happen to Simmons, who has been sitting out the 2021-2022 season.
- Per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, “Brooklyn will take its time getting Ben Simmons acclimated, but the star guard welcomes a change of scenery and has already had conversations with Kevin Durant and they’re all on the same page.”
- The deal also allows Harden — who was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets last season — to compete in a new environment after reports that he wanted to leave Brooklyn.
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The bigger picture: This clearly reshapes the Eastern Conference of the NBA. Two of the conference's most competitive teams just made a massive trade that could shift the direction of the league.