NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on James Harden Trade, Ben Simmons, Gary Harris

The NBA rumor mill has a certain soap opera-style vibe to it at times.

Like right now.

The daily reports surrounding Houston Rockets superstar James Harden have essentially become episodes of "As The Beard Turns." 

But his name isn't the only one being bandied about. We'll dig into all the latest reports here.

Houston Expanding Harden Trade Talks Beyond His Preferred Destinations

Carmen Mandato/Associated Press

If this were all up to James Harden, he'd reside outside of Space City now. He even has handpicked potential destinations, with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers topping his wish list.

But the 31-year-old has two seasons (plus a player option) left on his deal with the Rockets, so the ball is in their court. And if they're forced to eventually move the former MVP—which feels inevitable to happen sooner than later—they won't be bound to dealing with only his favored landing spots.

"The Houston Rockets are increasingly expanding trade discussions on All-NBA guard James Harden beyond his preferred destinations of Brooklyn and Philadelphia," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported.

Additionally, the ESPN scribes noted "several playoff-caliber teams in the Eastern and Western conferences" are growing more comfortable with the idea of sacrificing "high-level trade assets" to add the three-time scoring champ.

Even if Harden is non-committal about his next contract, the fact that he has two seasons left on this one surely contributes to that comfort level.

In essence, this confirms that Houston has plenty of options when it comes to handling Harden's exit. If the Rockets can't find what they want from teams like Brooklyn and Philly, they should have no shortage of offers to comb through from other clubs.

Ben Simmons' Name Surfaced in Harden Trade Talks

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Trading a superstar is rarely a simple endeavor, and the complications only increase when said player holds a $41 million salary, as Harden does.

Saying that, the simplest solution to this situation has seemingly revolved around an exchange with Philly for a package headlined by All-NBA third-teamer Ben Simmons. But that's obviously only true if the Sixers are willing to part with 2016's No. 1 pick, and it's unclear if that's actually the case.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Sixers "have made Ben Simmons available in some packages" for Harden. Wojnarowski and Shelburne also reported Philly had "signaled a willingness" to put the 24-year-old in a trade.

However, 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey refuted the reports, telling Charania, "We are not trading Ben Simmons—he is an important part of our future."

Now, perhaps this is a leverage play on the part of the Sixers, or even an attempt to smooth things over with Simmons should a Harden deal not happen in Philly.

Or Morey might mean what he says. The Athletic's Sam Amick reported the Sixers "have no urgency to pay anything more than a discount-aisle price for Harden," which clearly wouldn't be the case in a Simmons-for-Harden blockbuster.

Nuggets Shopped Gary Harris This Offseason

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

In order for the Denver Nuggets to pave a path out of the Western Conference, a lot of things must break in their favor over the course of the 2020-21 campaign. One of the most important elements would be Gary Harris snapping out of a two-year funk with his three-point shot.

Well, that or Denver finding a new home for the 26-year-old, which the club reportedly tried to do over the offseason.

"Frankly, they tried to trade [Harris] several different places over the offseason," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast (h/t RealGM).

Harris is a relentless defender on the perimeter with some flexibility on that end, but he's battled both injuries and offensive inconsistency over the past few seasons.

After shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from three over the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, those numbers plummeted to 42.2 and 33.6, respectively, in the past two campaigns.

Those are tricky shooting rates to pair with Harris' $19.6 million salary, which is likely the genesis behind Denver's willingness to move on from its starting shooting guard. But they surely haven't helped his trade value, which probably explains why he's still on the roster despite those attempts.

Unless teams are convinced he's due for a bounce-back, the Nuggets could have trouble dealing the Michigan State product at anything above a discounted rate.