Sixers Acquire James Harden for Ben Simmons and More

The deal is done.

The Sixers and Nets have finally agreed to a deal, sending Ben Simmons to Brooklyn in exchange for James Harden.

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The Sixers will also send Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks to the Nets with Brooklyn sending Paul Milsap to Philadelphia. The picks include the Sixers 2022 first-round pick, which is unprotected with the right to defer to 2023 and a 2027 first-round pick, which is protected 1-to-8 and rolls over to 2028 with the same protections.  It would become two second-round picks with $2 million in 2029.

Its a monster deal for both teams with Simmons heading to Brooklyn and Harden getting to pair with Joel Embiid.

One big loss will be the loss of backup center Andre Drummond, who has been by far the Sixers best big man off-the-bench since Embiid has been in the league. The team will now have to focus on trying to find someone to fill that role moving forward.

In-house options include Charles Bassey, who has shown some flashes in some work behind Embiid this season.

"When you look at this Sixers team, we can argue that Embiid is the best player in the NBA," said Kendrick Perkins on the NBA Today Trade Special on ESPN.

Harden is averaging 22.5 points, eight rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, but has missed time with a lingering hamstring injury.

Ben Simmons and the Nets are in Philadelphia to face the Sixers on March 10, will Simmons be ready to play by then?

We shall see.