Boston Celtics: 3 rival trade rumors that could be brutal for C’s
By Mark Nilon
Rumor that could be brutal for Boston Celtics No. 3) James Harden to Sixers
Last but not least, we have easily the biggest possible deal that could wind up happening between now and Thursday’s NBA trade deadline — James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.
For months now it has been rumored that there has been mutual interest between the Sixers and Brooklyn Nets to see a swap of Harden for Philly’s estranged star, Ben Simmons.
A bit more recently, in fact, it was reported that Daryl Morey and co. are highly confident that the former MVP will not be re-signing with Brooklyn this coming offseason anyway once he becomes a free agent and, because of this, they remain hopeful that Sean Marks will go on to place their guard on the trade block.
Should this happen, and Harden is then subsequently dealt to Philadelphia, this would absolutely make things tremendously harder, not just for the Boston Celtics, but, frankly, the rest of the Eastern Conference as a whole.
The way we see it, Philly is currently sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 32-22, and they’ve managed to do this without their star floor general.
Adding a top-75 player of all time who can come in and fill the void at the one left by Simmons could only be seen as a major plus for this team that has serious championship aspirations.
Running alongside Joel Embiid, a legitimate favorite to win the league’s MVP award by year’s end, the duo would go on to form the foundation of what very well could turn out to be the greatest pick-and-roll tandem of all time and create arguably the most lethal offense in the league.
In all likelihood, trading for Harden would not cost much more than Simmons heading out in return, thus keeping the bulk of this highly competitive 76ers’ core intact.
Put it this way — as things currently stand, Philadelphia is only two wins above the Boston Celtics and, in turn, just two spots above them in the standings.
With Harden in the picture, there’s a zero percent chance things remain this close.
3 most likely C's players to be traded at the 2022 deadline. dark. Next