Daryl Morey's Twitter Activity Shoots Down Possible Sixers Trade for James Harden
James Harden remains the talk of the NBA this week for several reasons. For starters, the Houston Rockets star went off on Saturday night. Despite falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in a tight 128-126 loss, Harden dominated on the offensive end of the floor as he put up 44 points in 43 minutes of playing time.
Even without the monster game on Saturday night, Harden was already on NBA fans' minds as he continues to look for a way out of Houston. Last month, Harden expressed concern regarding the future of his current franchise.
He then followed up by requesting a trade. At first, the Rockets didn't want to honor Harden's request at all, but then they started taking calls. One of the reported inquiring franchises was the Philadelphia 76ers.
Daryl Morey, who was the General Manager of the Houston Rockets from 2007 to 2020, joined the Sixers front office this season to become the team's President of Basketball Operations. Although Morey has dealt with tons of star players in his career, none have impacted him quite like James Harden.
Considering the connection, many assume Morey will do all he can to get Harden out of Houston and in with the 76ers, but the superstar won't come cheap. If the Sixers want the All-Star, they have to pay up with Ben Simmons, several first-round picks, and possibly a young player on a rookie deal.
Ben Simmons apparently isn't on the table as Daryl Morey offered up a statement on the matter, but not many people are buying it. However, Morey's latest Twitter activity shows the Sixers' President of Basketball Ops might be a lot higher on the 24-year-old All-Star than fans, and the media want to believe.
On Wednesday night, following the Sixers' win over the Washington Wizards, Morey raved about Simmons' production in crunch time as he claimed it was the most impressive thing he saw during Wednesday night's slate of NBA games.
Then on Saturday night, following the Sixers' second win of the season over the New York Knicks, Morey again showed just how impressed he was with Simmons' play by liking a tweet from MSG Network's Alan Hahn. "You’re a fool if you’d be willing to trade Ben Simmons," Hahn wrote. "What he lacks in three-point prowess he makes up in competitive intensity and defense. Absolute winner. Game changer."
Not a retweet there by Morey -- but a like. Does this mean a possible James Harden trade involving Ben Simmons is off the table? Of course not. It's just Twitter activity. But considering Morey has consistently and casually raved about Simmons' first two games on Twitter could further prove that he's serious about keeping Simmons. And as more time goes by with Houston sticking to their outrageous price tag, the chances of Harden and Simmons getting swapped continue to diminish.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
