Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Builder of Ships, George Bellows, 1916

I can tell I’m getting old in the basketball writing tooth because I’m completely spiritually ambivalent about the persistent rumors of a potential James Harden-Ben Simmons trade happening this week. Younger Me would have either been all-in on the necessity of a groundshaking trade (that earned me lots of grist for blog posts and theoryball pontification) or espousing a conspiracy theory that the continued rumors coming from the Basketball Media Industry were all baloney designed to churn up ratings for T.V. segments, views for the website and podcast listens. I probably would have spent so much time on the whole thing that if nothing came to fruition by Thursday afternoon, I would have been furious at all parties for their choice of statis. Really, I would have been mad at myself for devoting energy and time to literally nothing, in a job where it’s often hard to escape that feeling on a day-to-day basis.

(I’m not as invested deeply in the Machiavellian machinations or the minute-by-minute rumormongering anymore, but at least I can still churn out a meta intro! I aim to be the internet recipe writer of NBA trade rumor world. Instead of "Skip to Recipe” I’m going to start including a “Skip to Take” link.)

Here’s what I’m thinking about the current rumor, which is that to make a deal — which might not be on the table in any case whatsoever, to hear Nets coach Steve Nash tell it — the Sixers would have to throw in sweeteners.

• James Harden hasn’t been near an MVP level this season. He did make the All-Star team. I think at this juncture it would be difficult for him to make an All-NBA team.

• James Harden is still very good, one of the best scorers and playmakers in the NBA. An offense unto himself.

• The Nets’ only goal is winning a championship. Everything is geared toward that.

• Of the core three stars, only Kevin Durant is signed for sure beyond this season. Kyrie Irving has a large player option, but a) you never know with Kyrie and b) if New York’s vaccine mandate remains in place, you wonder if he’ll want to leave and sign with a team where he can play home games.

• Kevin Durant is very good, one of the best scorers and playmakers in the NBA. An offense unto himself. One of the best ever. He’s racking up a rather extensive injury history and he’s 33.

• Ben Simmons is a switchable first team All-Defense player and a heady, talented passer. A power forward sized Rajon Rondo, if you will.

• Simmons is not going to play for the Philadelphia 76ers again. It’s February. He may or may not be losing his salary. I take him at his word that he’s not playing for this team again.

• Simmons would be a seamless fit on a healthy Nets team without Harden and with Parttime Kyrie. Any additional Sixers that were traded to Brooklyn would be seamless fits as well: Tyrese Maxey off the bench or starting for Irving, Seth Curry in any role, etc.

• Harden and Joel Embiid would make up one of the best guard-center batteries in 20 years, instantly.

• Embiid is not the perfect Harden center. Harden is not the perfect Embiid guard.

• Harden is 32, seven years older than Simmons and 11 years older than Maxey.

• Harden has lost a step, has been impacted by officiating changes and is building an extensive injury history.

• Harden’s greatest successes in the NBA came as Daryl Morey built a roster specifically designed to suit his abilities, and hired a coach willing to do it.

• Harden’s greatest failures involve battling with headstrong, highly talented, ball-dominant teammates.

• As I noted, Embiid’s not perfect for Harden: he’s become a three-level scoring threat and good playmaker; he’s not a Capelian diver on the pick and roll.

• As I noted, Harden’s not perfect for Embiid: he’s a ball-pounding shooter and P&R creator who does not often cut off the ball and isn’t accustomed to a spot-up role.

• Doc Rivers is good at adjusting to his roster, but he’s not going to fling the normal basketball theories at the window a la Mike D’Antoni.

• Harden is going to get a max contract this summer.

• Simmons is on a max contract for three more seasons after this one.

• Embiid is under contract through at least 2026. That’s four more seasons after this one. Embiid is 27 years old and has 335 NBA games (regular season and playoffs) under his belt. For comparison’s sake, at age 27 Dwight Howard had 758 total games played.

• The Sixers are two games out of the No. 1 seed in a very unsettled East with the defending champion Bucks trying to find a solution for their Brook Lopez sized hole, the co-leader Heat trying to stay healthy, the Nets in shambles, the Bulls struggling against good teams and the Cavaliers totally unproven in the playoff crucible.

• As such, the Sixers are technically legitimate championship contenders right now, largely due to Embiid’s pre-eminence.

• The Sixers’ championship window is open, has been open for three years to varying degrees and should be open so long as Embiid is healthy, at his peak, in Philadelphia and surrounded by quality players.

• Giving up mulitple assets including the enormous trade chip that Simmons represents right now for Harden would open the window wider but likely mean that it closes earlier, should Harden’s play quality continue to degrade and as the Sixers lose young assets and cap flexibility.

That’s the trade-off, whether the Nets are actually considering this move now or whether the Sixers chase Harden in earnest this summer at the cost of moving Simmons, Tobias Harris (who I somehow haven’t mentioned once!) and/or Maxey.

Open the window wider now at the risk of it slamming shut sooner

-or-

Keep the window open the same amount, preserving a future opportunity to open it wider or to keep it this wide for a longer amount of time

It’s a philosophical question for which there is no right answer at that point. Something for Morey to decide, with a little help from the Nets.

(By the way, if I’m the Nets and Durant is unopposed to trading Harden, I do the trade in a half-second. Get a younger defender who will be required to do much less on offense and should be fine with it since he’ll have Kevin freaking Durant on his team? In a half-second.)

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An Even Better Window Opening Pry Bar

Scores

Raptors 116, Hornets 101 — Toronto and Boston are neck and neck with Brooklyn for the No. 6 seed. It’s going to be mighty interesting to see what the Raps and C’s do at the deadline. Mighty interesting. Anyway, Pascal Siakam looks like the bubble never happened.

Heat 121, Wizards 100

Suns 127, Bulls 124 — This seems worrisome.

K.C. Johnson @KCJHoop

The Bulls are about to drop to 1-11 against teams with the top-seven records (besides theirs) in NBA. Here’s breakdown, with avg. margin of defeat. Heat 0-2; 14.5 pts Bucks 0-1; 4 pts Cavaliers 1-1; 23 pts 76ers 0-3; 8.3 pts Suns 0-1; ? Warriors 0-2; 34 pts Grizzlies 0-1; 13 pts

February 8th 2022

176 Retweets1,114 Likes

Suns were up 27 at one point; the game was not as close as the final score indicates.

Warriors 110, Thunder 98

Knicks 104, Jazz 113 — Utah seems to have stabilized with the return of Donovan Mitchell. Go figure. This dunk is beautiful. He’s got real showmanship.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter

Spida went windmill 🔥

February 8th 2022

203 Retweets2,760 Likes

Schedule

Busy 10-game schedule. All times Eastern.

Suns at Sixers, 7***
Pacers at Hawks, 7:30
Celtics at Nets, 7:30, TNT* — home Brooklyn game, might be a blowout if Harden doesn’t play
Clippers at Grizzlies, 8
Rockets at Pelicans, 8
Pistons at Mavericks, 8:30
Knicks at Nuggets, 9
Bucks at Lakers, 10, TNT*
Magic at Blazers, 10
Timberwolves at Kings, 10

Links

We have All-Star replacements: LaMelo Ball will take Kevin Durant’s spot (Jayson Tatum will be a starter in KD’s place) and Dejounte Murray will take Draymond Green’s spot. Dejounte Murray, NBA All-Star: it happened.

Via reader Lawrence, Caitlin Clark is completely out of control. Sheesh.

Ben Diamond 🗽 @BenDiamond14

If there’s a college athlete who needs to be a household name, it’s Caitlin Clark. Absolute flamethrower.

February 7th 2022

10,826 Retweets72,881 Likes

Rising Stars rosters. I think I have Team Isiah over Team Glove in the championship game. Ant Man + Bane + Hali + Bey + Beef Stew? Sheesh. Isiah Thomas never drafted this well in the NBA.

David Vanterpool talks to Marc Spears about the Brian Flores NFL lawsuit and what it means for Black coaches in all leagues.

Dan Devine on CLEVert and the next chapter for the Cavaliers.

Zach Kram investigates the NBA’s biggest in-season trading GM.

Looking at Sylvia Fowles’ career as maybe the most dominant center in WNBA history.

Nike is trying to destroy StockX’s NFT program. I’m not really sure how StockX thought they could do what they are doing?

Dakota Schmidt breaks down Italian NBA prospect Matteo Spagnolo.

Be excellent to each other.