No Hard Feelings: Kevin Durant Wants to Move on From Nets' James Harden Saga

Last year, James Harden forced his way out of Houston. With the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets both making a strong push to land the superstar guard, Harden was fine with wherever he went between the two.

Ultimately, Harden ended up in Brooklyn with the Nets, joining the star duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Fast forward a little over a year later, and Harden grew disgruntled playing in Brooklyn.

Eventually, Harden forced himself out of Brooklyn. And ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline, the Sixers and the Nets made a stars swap of Harden and Ben Simmons, while the Sixers also sent Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and picks Brooklyn's way. 

On the night of the blockbuster trade, Nets star Kevin Durant made a public appearance while drafting one of the two All-Star teams as a captain. At the time, Durant seemed disgruntled as he avoided picking Harden -- causing the ten-time All-Star guard to go last in the draft.

However, the Nets star seems to be in a much better place regarding Brooklyn's Harden saga. While he might've been frustrated with the way everything went down before, Durant made it clear that he's looking forward to moving on from it after the Sixers and the Nets face each other once more on Thursday night.

Durant Speaks Out

"I mean, when you look at it, try to look at it from his perspective," Durant said, in regards to Harden's feelings when he was with the Nets. "You look up, Ky's not playing, and then I'm injured. He hasn't won a championship before. So he's looking at it; he's 32 years old, I guess, looking at himself, wanted to make a decision to get on a team that can get him to that contending being one of the last team standing. 

"So you look at it from his perspective, you just say it is what it is. You can't really control how somebody feels when they're thinking like that. Hopefully, he stays healthy, and their team stays healthy, and we stay healthy. We have a great year. They have a great year, and then we can just move on from this."

Tensions are expected to be high on Thursday in South Philly as the Nets-Sixers matchup marks the first time Ben Simmons shows face in Philly since last season. In addition, it's also the first time Harden faces the Nets as a member of the 76ers. 

Harden downplayed the matchup following Monday night's game against Chicago. Durant doesn't seem to have any added motivation for Thursday's game as well. While both stars will be ready to compete at the highest level -- Harden and Durant seem eager to get the highly-anticipated matchup out of the way so everybody can move on.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.