NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on James Harden, Ben Simmons and Brooklyn Nets

For all the off-court noise James Harden has created, he's still James Harden when he steps inside the lines.

That should've been expected. After all, the last three scoring titles were his, as was the 2017-18 MVP award. He's an annual All-Star and one of the most powerful offensive forces in today's NBA.

It should be little surprise, then, that the trade rumor mill continues to be dominated by rumblings around his desired split from the Houston Rockets. We've got all the latest Beard-watching reports here.

76ers 'Farther Away' from a James Harden Deal Than Before

Adam Hunger/Associated Press

The Philadelphia 76ers could use another shot-creator to complement Joel Embiid in the half court, and they just so happened to make Harden's short list of preferred landing spots. Tack on the connection with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who orchestrated the 2012 trade that brought Harden to Space City, and it's easy to see why the Sixers are so often mentioned in the Harden sweepstakes.

Saying that, they may not be in a rush to make any kind of major move. They changed coaches this offseason (Doc Rivers in, Brett Brown out) and retooled the supporting cast around Embiid and Ben Simmons. They're already off to a 3-1 start, and their lone defeat occurred without Embiid.

They may not need Harden—or at least the need may not be so great that they're willing to meet what's surely an astronomic asking price.

"[With] Embiid and Simmons playing like this, I would say they're farther from a Harden trade than they were two weeks ago," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on "The Jump."

While every team is better with Harden than without, that doesn't necessarily mean Philly should empty the war chest to bring him on board. If the trade cost is outside of the Sixers' comfort range, they're making the right move in practicing patience.

Ben Simmons Is the Top Player Connected to Harden Talks

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

While there are myriad ways the Rockets can build their wish list for a Harden trade, the centerpiece of their desires is surely a young cornerstone-caliber player.

No one connected to the Harden talks better fits that bill than Simmons, a 24-year-old former No. 1 pick who's already been named an All-Star (twice), an All-NBA third-teamer and an All-Defensive first-teamer.

"The Sixers have the player...that's probably the best deal that [the Rockets] can make right now, which is Ben Simmons," Windhorst said. "It's just a matter of constructing it in a way that satisfies both teams."

The ESPN scribe, however, went on to note that, "neither one really are interested in doing that right now."

If Philadelphia knows it has the best trade chip in these talks, it certainly won't rush to give him away. Conversely, Houston might have reservations about making Simmons the centerpiece given his offensive limitations. At the very least, there might be enough question marks about his future for the Rockets to seek additional assets.

It's possible this is all posturing and just a method of delaying Harden's eventual move to Philadelphia. But if the Sixers are hesitant to part with Simmons, it will be fascinating to see whether another team beats them to the punch with Harden by putting a mammoth trade offer in front of the Rockets.

Nets-Rockets Talks About Harden Had No Traction

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

If Harden had his way, his sweepstakes would've been over about as quickly as they started.

Very early in the process, he identified the Brooklyn Nets as his top destination. Joining the Nets would not only mean competing for a championship, but also doing it alongside his former running mate, Kevin Durant.

But the things Harden wants from this deal have little to no bearing on what Houston will actually try to get. Frankly, the Nets could have a brutally difficult time trying to assemble the right package, and that was true even before Spencer Dinwiddie went down with a partially torn ACL.

"It's unclear to me, frankly, if those teams have had anything resembling a serious conversation about James Harden," ESPN's Zach Lowe said on The Lowe Post podcast (h/t RealGM). "Let's make that clear. I don't sense that there's been hardly any traction there at all."

The Nets are built to win-now, which makes sense with Durant and Kyrie Irving on the roster, but it also limits their ability to provide what the Rockets are after. A Harden trade would almost certainly send Houston spiraling toward a top-to-bottom rebuild, and Brooklyn lacks the elite prospects and draft picks to simplify that task.

Maybe a three- or four-team trade eventually surfaces that gets Harden to Brooklyn and delivers a rebuilding kit to Houston, but for now, the Nets are looking more and more like long shots to acquire him.