Danny Green Says 76ers Discussed Ben Simmons Trade Return; Didn't Expect James Harden

It turns out fans aren't the only people who like firing up the NBA trade machine. 

Philadelphia 76ers wing Danny Green admitted he and his teammates would openly speculate and joke about who the team could get in return for Ben Simmons throughout the saga that enveloped their 2021-22 season. 

"We did have some fun with playing GM scenarios," Green said on the Ryan Russillo Show (13:15 mark). "... None of us are the GMs and don't make these decisions, but if we were, what would we try to get? Who would we try to get? We also had some fun talking to each other throughout the year and coming together on the plane, joking about us probably being part of the trade."

Green said he initially thought Simmons would be part of the team when he briefly arrived to training camp, but those hopes were almost instantly dashed when he was kicked out of a practice for refusing to participate in a drill. Simmons then spent several months in exile while Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey steadfastly refused to take less than an All-Star-caliber return. 

No one on the Sixers roster expected the Sixers to land a player of Harden's caliber—though that's in large part because few expected Harden to demand a trade for the second time in as many seasons.

The patience paid off big for Morey, who landed a big fish in Harden who has been stellar since coming over at the deadline. The Sixers are 5-0 in games with Harden since his arrival, moving immediately into the title conversation.

The Nets, meanwhile, have yet to see the fruits of their trade labor. Simmons has no timetable to make his season debut as he continues to recover from a back injury. Seth Curry and Andre Drummond have gotten minutes in Brooklyn, but no one will be able to properly judge the Nets' haul until Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant share the floor.