Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a disappointing blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets — the same team they acquired James Harden from in a blockbuster trade before this year’s deadline.
After this loss, NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley shared some harsh thoughts on the Harden-to-Philly trade.
“James [Harden] is a terrific player. But when the lights are the brightest, he has played awful,” Barkley said. “The thing about being a great player — you don’t have to play great [all the time], you just can’t stink up the joint. And he stunk up the joint tonight.
“The Sixers have to win a championship in the next two years or else that’ll go down as the worst trade ever.”
“The Sixers have to win a championship in the next two years or else that’ll go down as the worst trade ever.”
Chuck weighs in on the Harden-Simmons trade after the Nets’ win in Philly. pic.twitter.com/b23v34rvKY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 11, 2022
Using last night to weigh last month’s trade, it seems as though the Nets got the better of the deal. Harden finished the loss with just 11 points on 3-17 shooting from the field and Ben Simmons wasn’t even on the floor for Brooklyn.
That being said, the Harden/Philly connection was clicking up until last night. The Sixers had won each of the previous five games in which Harden took the court as he averaged 24.6 points and 12.4 assists per game.
The Sixers currently hold the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Nets are five spots back at No. 8.
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