SALT LAKE CITY — Could the honeymoon be over for the Nets and James Harden?
The Nets are reportedly open to discussing the 76ers’ longstanding pursuit of Harden, something they had rejected out of hand up to this point.
Harden has close ties with Philadelphia president Daryl Morey from their days together with the Rockets. Morey tried to trade for the former MVP before the Nets landed him. Morey’s interest never faded, but the Nets had initially refused to even countenance offers until this coming offseason.
Until now.
The Athletic reported that the 76ers are expected to pursue Harden ahead of the NBA trade deadline, which is this Thursday. A source told The Post “there’s something there.”
Any potential deal with Philadelphia would center around All-Star Ben Simmons, who is disgruntled with the 76ers and, citing mental-health issues, hasn’t played this season. How or when those issues would clear up if the 25-year-old guard were traded to the Nets is a mystery. But so is whether Harden would even re-sign with the Nets, after declining a three-year, $161 million extension this past offseason.
Harden stands to make the most money if he were to re-sign with the Nets this offseason (potentially a four-year, $227 million extension), but personnel around the league believe there now is more of a chance he will be traded at the deadline than there was a few weeks ago.
Harden was ruled out of the game Friday night at Utah because of left hamstring tightness, the same injury that forced him to sit out a Jan. 26 loss to the Nuggets at Barclays Center. He was a late scratch before a loss last Saturday at Golden State with a strain in his right (non-shooting) hand.
After returning from the hand injury, Harden shot 6-for-19 overall Tuesday in a loss at Phoenix and followed that with a four-point, 2-for-11 effort Wednesday in a humbling defeat at Sacramento.
It was Harden’s lowest point output since 2014 in a game in which he logged at least 30 minutes. He compounded it by committing six turnovers, getting hit with a technical after the last turnover, and finishing a wretched minus-21.
The Nets came into Friday having lost six straight, their longest skid in more than two years. It’s easy to see Harden and Kyrie Irving haven’t been in sync. After the Nets went an impressive 16-3 last season when the pair started together without Kevin Durant, this year they are only 2-4.
While the Big 3 are plus-15 in 32 minutes together this season, Harden and Irving are a minus-12 in their 172 minutes together without Durant.
When asked why the Nets have been so wildly inconsistent, Harden said: “You know just as good as I do. You know, we’ve just got a lot of different things internally, lineups, and we haven’t had no continuity yet.”
That could be interpreted a number of ways: as in, the reason is a mystery, or as in, the cause of the problem is obvious. When pressed on whether Irving’s in-and-out part-time status and Durant’s MCL injury have pushed the Nets to a breaking point, Harden replied: “I don’t know. I know we’re on a six-game losing streak. I do know that.”
