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for building a championship favorite in Philadelphia.

Trading Harden to a division rival during the season was a huge mistake.

Educator wrote:for building a championship favorite in Philadelphia.

Trading Harden to a division rival during the season was a huge mistake.

I think Marks' hands were tied. Harden didn't want to be here and was becoming a cancer in the locker room. I'm not holding onto someone who is faking injuries and going out on the court dogging it after being up all night clubbing in Las Vegas. Getting Simmons, 2 1sts and two roleplayers that fill needs is probably the best we were getting at that point.

If you want to be mad at someone, start with Kyrie. He's the main reason Harden wanted out of here because he knew that the guy isn't all in on winning.

MrDollarBills wrote:

Educator wrote:for building a championship favorite in Philadelphia.

Trading Harden to a division rival during the season was a huge mistake.

I think Marks' hands were tied. Harden didn't want to be here and was becoming a cancer in the locker room. I'm not holding onto someone who is faking injuries and going out on the court dogging it after being up all night clubbing in Las Vegas. Getting Simmons, 2 1sts and two roleplayers that fill needs is probably the best we were getting at that point.

If you want to be mad at someone, start with Kyrie. He's the main reason Harden wanted out of here because he knew that the guy isn't all in on winning.

This season is all because of Kyrie, for sure, but Marks' hands were not tied. He could have just said no. A deal would have been there in the offseason. Harden may have pouted, but he would have played hard in the playoffs. And what if they won?

What Marks did was significantly strengthen Philadelphia while significantly weakening his own team. It was dumb.

Educator wrote:for building a championship favorite in Philadelphia.

Trading Harden to a division rival during the season was a huge mistake.

It was nowhere near a mistake, let alone a "Huge"mistake.

Harden turned a pending free agent disgruntled star into a 25-year allstar/all-nba defender, 2 very good role players (with 3 years on his deal left), and 2 first round picks. That is an outstanding return for a player who has quit on the team, is faking injuries, and is trying to force his way out early.

Marks honestly got EXTREMELY lucky. if not for the messy situation with Simmons, he likely would have come away with 0 all-star talent, let alone a 25 year old all-star. Ben may not help this year, but long term he is a great piece.

The Nets were low key in an awful spot. We were going to be tens of millions over the luxury tax and locked into a supermax on 2 guys in their mid 30s and another about to turn 30. Our risk was enormous, especially as harden may not age all that well. all 3 guys are injury questions. as is in 2 seasons we couldnt get them on the floor together for even 20 games. paying the trio 600+ million over 4 years combined was a ticking time bomb.

Ben on 3/100 is significantly cheaper then harden and at 25 years old helps hedge our future success.

In addition to the 2 first rounders we got, we also basically negated the remaining 2-3 pick swaps with Houston. as Ben/Kyrie and any version of KD should keep us playoff relevant for a while.

Whatever Philly does is irrelevant. They arent even east favorites let alone title favorites and Harden/Embiid dont exactly have the best playoff resume. If they catch Boston in round 1 it will be very interesting. but lets say they win a title. doesnt matter. marks put us in the best position moving forward and salvaged a situation that usually cripples your franchise for a few years.

The only potential miss on a harden trade was not waiting until the offseason. But with harden quitting and faking injuries it forced our hand a bit.

Educator wrote:This season is all because of Kyrie, for sure, but Marks' hands were not tied. He could have just said no. A deal would have been there in the offseason. Harden may have pouted, but he would have played hard in the playoffs. And what if they won?

Would we have made the playoffs if Harden wasnt traded? I'm not sure we would. he was out of shape, quit on the team and faking injuries.

Anything Kyrie did does not excuse James for quitting. things got Hard and he didnt want to have to work hard.

Harden didn't want to be here and was acting accordingly. It's easy to understand. Good luck and move on.

Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

Absolutely correct.

He was already quitting, we don't have to imagine anything. It's not something hypothetical. We saw it.

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

People crowning Philly already after beating the Knicks twice and Minny once?

Harden showed up fat and out of shape and set the wrong tone/msg from training camp.
Kyrie situation was just the cherry on top, but let's not forget Harden is just as much to blame.

I think we got a good return for his disgruntled ass.

Prokorov wrote:

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

Even an out of shape Harden is better than no show Simmons.

I think we were completely capable of winning at least 3 games we did since the trade with Harden.

And with KD coming back it would have been fine.

No we have no Simmons or Kyrie for the near future. Thats not a winning formula.

Not falling for this bait

The notion that holding Harden hostage would have worked out well is absurd. The situation was becoming toxic.

The guy had already quit on the team. He faked an injury and had become a cancer in the locker room, on top of the fact that he went out partying all night in vegas the night before the Kings game where he just absolutely dogged it.

I know you're all upset that the 76ers have blown out the Wolves and Knicks, but really, I don't want anyone here who doesn't want to be here. Hell I barely want Kyrie on the team because he's an idiot, but at least he wants to be here. If he can play full time, we are still the most dangerous team in the bracket (if we can even make the bracket). Simmons should be back by the end of the month.

I have no hopes of a championship this season. But I'm not upset at Marks for making that trade.

Prokorov wrote:

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

It was reported that KD had believed that Harden was faking his injury and it turned out to be correct.

That bridge has been burned to the ground.

James is Philly's problem now. He forced his way off of two teams in a year's time. If it works for Philly, great, but I have my doubts that Harden won't soon become a toxic presence there if adversity strikes that team.

Hello Brooklyn wrote:

Prokorov wrote:

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

Even an out of shape Harden is better than no show Simmons.

I think we were completely capable of winning at least 3 games we did since the trade with Harden.

And with KD coming back it would have been fine.

No we have no Simmons or Kyrie for the near future. Thats not a winning formula.

i dont think we win those with harden. he was playing awful and was checked out. he likely pouts a bit post deadline. and the lockeroom seems to be better since he was gone. i think it would have gotten worse before it got better.

MrDollarBills wrote:

Prokorov wrote:

Hello Brooklyn wrote:Marks was an idiot for trading Harden.

You guys can defend him all you want.

If we didn't trade him Harden was not going to quit all season. There is 0% chance of that happening. He would have sucked it up and played. Especially with KD coming back.

With KD-Kyrie-Harden no team is beating us. Its just not happening.

Simmons might not even play this season.

If you lose Harden in the off season thats fine. We still had a real chance to win the title this year. And Philly wouldn't have cap space. So they probably have to trade us Simmons anyway.

I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

It was reported that KD had believed that Harden was faking his injury and it turned out to be correct.

That bridge has been burned to the ground.

James is Philly's problem now. He forced his way off of two teams in a year's time. If it works for Philly, great, but I have my doubts that Harden won't soon become a toxic presence there if adversity strikes that team.

Harden "forgetting" to opt in before the deadline is a major red flag. if embiid chokes again he is gone

Prokorov wrote:

MrDollarBills wrote:

Prokorov wrote:
I'm not sure we had a choice. The Idea that after the deadline passed harden was start trying and get in shape is a big leap. Even if he did, im not sure it would have mattered. with no curry/drummond im not sure we would have won enough games to make the playoffs or get out of the play-in.

That is part of it. he ALREADY quit on the team and faked injuries. he basically forced a 10 game losing streak. we go 5-5 there maybe it is different.

i agree id rather have held on to him until the offseason. but thats also when i thought he was hurt. that clearly wasnt the case. Marks may not have had much choice.

It was reported that KD had believed that Harden was faking his injury and it turned out to be correct.

That bridge has been burned to the ground.

James is Philly's problem now. He forced his way off of two teams in a year's time. If it works for Philly, great, but I have my doubts that Harden won't soon become a toxic presence there if adversity strikes that team.

Harden "forgetting" to opt in before the deadline is a major red flag. if embiid chokes again he is gone

I seriously don't know how Philly fans are overlooking that. He did that on purpose to hedge his bets.

This will be a glorious thread to bump when Harden chokes or gets injured in the 1st round of the playoffs.

How about we see how Philly responds to adversity before crowning them champs. The East is no joke.

Educator wrote:Let's give Sean Marks some credit

for building a championship favorite in Philadelphia.

You may be right.

At this point it would be a miracle if the Nets simply make the conference finals, so what happens in Philly is almost completely irrelevant.

Not to mention, Philly is hardly a "championship favorite," even after the trade. I'd favor the Suns outright, and give a bunch of East and West teams at least even odds to bump off the Sixers.

But down the line is more interesting, because Morey having a Hardon for Harden absolutely works in Marks and the Nets favor, in that a supermax for the Beard has the potential to be an absolute nuclear disaster of a contract, immediately killing their championship hopes for years to come. Wouldn't be at all surprised if it led to Embiid skipping out in 2023 because he wanted to play for a contender, not a treadmill team.

Maxey's continued rise to stardom could definitely change some of those variables, but not all of them.

So yes, well played, Marks.