Amid the ongoing dialogue over who actually won the James Harden-Ben Simmons trade, it turns out there is another important point to consider.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday that the Brooklyn Nets will be deferring the first-round pick they acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers in the Harden-Simmons swap to 2023. The Nets, who were required to inform the league office of their decision by Wednesday, would have gotten the No. 23 overall pick in this year’s draft had they not deferred.
The February blockbuster trade saw the Nets send Harden and Paul Millsap to the 76ers in exchange for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks (the aforementioned one and a protected one in 2027). By deferring, the Nets will be hoping that the 76ers post a worse record in 2022-23 than the 51-31 record that they posted this season. That may be a decent bet with Harden aging another year, and a key 76er in Danny Green being out with injury. Brooklyn could also repackage the Philadelphia pick in a trade with another team.
Though the trade took place less than four months ago, significant discourse is already being had about which team here won the deal. Simmons himself clearly believes it will ultimately be the Nets, having recently taken a petty shot at Harden over the trade.
