Rumor Report: The James Harden Trade Looks Imminent

The James Harden talks cooled down a little in the early games of the season, but they have ramped up to a new level in the last 24 hours. Based off all the latest reports, it looks like the Harden trade will happen at any moment.

Harden has listed the Nets and the Sixers as his two top destinations, and they look to be the final two teams in the race. It will all come down to which team will meet Houston's steep asking price.

As we know the key piece in a Sixers-Rockets trade has always been Ben Simmons. Houston has had their eyes on the 24 year old All-Star, but Daryl Morey has been reluctant to trade away the franchise cornerstone.

Recent reports have also indicated other young talent that the Rockets have their eyes on. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Wednesday afternoon that Houston would also like to acquire Matisse Thybulle in attempts to build a defensive identity.

Marc Stein of the New York times also reported the Houston would like a packaged headlined by Simmons and promising rookie Tyrese Maxey in exchange for the former MVP.

Brooklyn is doing its best to create a package that cannot be outbid. Early reports brought up the Nets offering an array of first-round picks and pick swaps, and some rumors have even brought up Kyrie Irving being on the table.

The Harden drama has plagued the league for months now, and the end looks like it is here. It will be fascinating to see if Daryl Morey pulls the trigger on a Harden trade for the second time in his career as an executive.

Before losing half their roster to health and safety protocols, the Sixers were dominating on both ends of the floor. They finally had proper spacing around Embiid and Simmons, and were almost unstoppable on the defensive end of the floor.

With the success the team was seeing, it makes it hard to believe the team is rushing to blow it all up just 12 games into the season. Although he has his shortcomings on offense, there is no doubt that the Sixers are going to need Ben Simmons defensively if they want to compete for a championship.

It still looks very unclear on how this is all going to end, but there is no denying that the move is very close to happening.