76ers' Roster, Starting Lineup, Salary Cap After Ben Simmons-James Harden Trade

All season long, Daryl Morey said he wouldn't trade Ben Simmons without landing a star. 

We should have listened.

The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off their anticipated blockbuster ahead of Thursday's deadline, acquiring James Harden in exchange for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The blockbuster came together in recent days amid Harden's growing unhappiness in Brooklyn and a desire to land in Philadelphia, where he has an existing relationship with Morey and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin.

Morey held out on trading a disgruntled Simmons the entire 2021-22 season amid public pressure, stating several times he wouldn't do so without landing a proper return. He did just that in Harden, an MVP-caliber player when engaged who arguably makes these Sixers the Eastern Conference favorite.

The Sixers also managed to land Harden without trading Tyrese Maxey or Matisse Thubulle, their two most promising young players.

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Sixers Projected Starting Lineup

PG: Tyrese Maxey
SG: James Harden
SF: Matisse Thybulle
PF: Tobias Harris
C: Joel Embiid
Bench: Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz, Georges Niang, Jaden Springer, Shake Milton, Paul Millsap, Isaiah Joe, Paul Reed, Charles Bassey

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Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Harden will opt into the $47.3 million player option he has for next season as part of the trade. He could have opted out and signed a five-year maximum contract worth around $270 million, which would have been the richest deal in NBA history.

It's possible Harden and the Sixers work on a contract extension this summer, but locking him in now gives the team at least two years to chase an NBA championship. The Sixers already stood to be helplessly capped out well into the future due to the deals of Embiid and Harris, so this does little to alter their short-term planning.

It's borderline certain the Sixers will be a luxury-tax team for as long as Embiid, Harris and Harden are on the roster. The trio combines to make $118.6 million next season, which puts their salaries alone barely below the $121 million projected cap. 

Things are going to get expensive—quickly—but it won't matter if the result is a championship in Philadelphia.