Despite ugly loss, Sixers are winners of James Harden-Ben Simmons trade with Nets — for now | Opinion

Ben Simmons heard it from Philadelphia 76ers fans. Probably heard too much.

Anyone who has followed this saga expected that in Simmons’ return to Philadelphia for the first time since the Sixers traded him to the Brooklyn Nets.

Sixers fans had the right to boo and heckle Simmons as long as they didn’t cross lines, but given it’s Philadelphia sports fans, lines were crossed.

The "shoot the ball" chant as Simmons rebounded for Patty Mills worked. Can do without the "(expletive) Ben Simmons" chant. A few knuckleheads were ejected for their behavior. Certainly don’t search Simmons’ name on Twitter.

But the Sixers and their fans should find optimism following the Simmons controversy and the trade for James Harden: the Sixers won the trade, at least as it stands on March 10, 2022.

Some fans understand that. Sixers Wire reporter Ky Carlin noticed a billboard in Philadelphia that read, "Hey Ben, thanks for Harden."

The long term will figure itself out. But for now — despite Thursday’s embarrassing 129-100 loss to Brooklyn — the Sixers won the trade and are set up to make a deeper run than Brooklyn in the postseason.

Since Harden joined the rotation, the Sixers are 5-1 and in third place in the Eastern Conference.

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Since the trade, Simmons has yet to play for Brooklyn, and the Nets have been in a free fall, losers of 19 of their past 27 games. On Jan. 13, the Nets started the day 26-14 and in second place in the East, just two games behind Chicago. Brooklyn is now 34-33, stuck in the play-in game format with the possibility of missing the eight-team playoffs in the East.

The Nets have had issues: an injury to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving’s inability to play in New York because he’s not vaccinated and Harden’s ambivalence prior to the trade deadline, coinciding with Brooklyn’s 11-game losing streak.

Simmons was on the bench for Thursday’s game against the Sixers and should be close to making his Nets debut. As COVID restrictions decline, Irving and the Nets hope he’ll be able to play in home games by the start of the postseason in a month. Durant played in just his fifth game after missing six weeks with a sprained knee.

When the Nets signed Irving and Durant and acquired Harden, this is not what they had in mind.

But they can still salvage this season. With Durant and Irving playing like they did against Philadelphia (25 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals for Durant; 22 points, five assists for Irving), they can be a dangerous foe as the seventh or eighth seed. Get Simmons in the lineup, and the Nets have even more scoring, defense and depth.

Brooklyn just doesn’t have a lot of time to figure things out before the postseason.

The Sixers maintained proximity to the top teams in the East without Simmons. With an engaged Harden and Joel Embiid playing at an MVP level, the Sixers are as dangerous as any team in the East.

Six games is a small sample size, but Harden is averaging 22.3 points, 11.2 assists, 7.3 rebounds and shooting 45.7% from the field and 43.2% on 3-pointers.

When Harden was on the court in the first five games with his new team, Philadelphia scored an astounding 128.5 points per 100 possessions while allowing 106.8 points per 100 possessions. Prior to Thursday, Embiid and Harden on the court together in 128 minutes have been dominant: 133 points and 102.2 points allowed per 100 possessions.

But Harden stunk against the Nets (11 points, 3-for-17 shooting, four turnovers), and his playoff performance will be scrutinized. Thursday’s loss also uncovered scoring and physicality flaws that are more glaring when Harden has an off night.

This trade needed to happen — for Simmons, Harden, the Sixers and the Nets. Time will reveal the ultimate winner of the trade, and given the circumstances of both teams, more pressure is on Philadelphia this season.

As TNT’s Reggie Miller said, "I wouldn’t want to play this Nets team in the first round."

And wouldn’t it be fun if that first-round matchup was Sixers vs. Nets.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sixers early winners of James Harden-Ben Simmons trade despite loss