A new ESPN report showcases how badly Daryl Morey wanted to do the James Harden trade.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets completed the biggest trade of the NBA season. After months of negotiations with Ben Simmons, the Sixers were finally able to find a willing trade partner in the Brooklyn Nets, who gave the Sixers James Harden in return for their troubles. It is a trade that came down to the wire, and it’s clear that one side wanted to make it happen more than the other.
Of course, we are talking about Daryl Morey and the Sixers, who needed Simmons gone before the playoffs. During the trade deadline, Morey spent most of his day on the phone with Nets GM Sean Marks, and as the deadline quickly approached, Morey was getting very antsy and desperate about making the trade work.
In a report from ESPN, Morey was on the phone at 1:15 PM EST which was just under two hours before the deadline. That’s when he told Marks “Stay on the f—ing phone…We’re going to finish this!” Marks joked with Morey about all the swearing, although it’s clear that Morey was simply on a mission that needed to be accomplished, sooner rather than later.
It remains to be seen how these trades will work out for each team, although if one thing is certain, both teams are happy to be rid of the players that didn’t want to be in their former situations.
