76ers Acquire Seven-Time All-NBA star James Harden and Four-Time All-Star Paul Millsap in Trade with the Brooklyn Nets

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has acquired seven-time All-NBA selection James Harden and four-time NBA All-Star Paul Millsap in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

“James Harden is one of the truly elite players in the league. His career has been defined by incredible personal achievement, including honors as NBA MVP and three-time NBA scoring champion,” Philadelphia 76ers Managing Partner Josh Harris said. “We’re thrilled to pair him with Joel Embiid and this dynamic roster in our pursuit of an NBA title. I am proud to welcome James and Paul Millsap – a proven veteran and former All Star – to the 76ers, and can’t wait for what the future holds for the city and our fans.”

In the trade, Philadelphia sent Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons, a 2022 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick to Brooklyn. The 2027 first-round pick is protected for selections 1-8. Should it not convey in 2027, it becomes a 2028 first-round pick, protected selections 1-8. If the pick does not convey in the first round of the 2028 NBA Draft, it becomes a 2028 second-round pick and cash consideration.

For his career, Harden has appeared in 921 games (707 starts) with Brooklyn, Houston and Oklahoma City and holds averages of 25.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The only non-active NBA players ever to average at least 25-5-6 for a career are Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Harden’s 67 triple-doubles rank eighth all-time in NBA history.

Harden was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in October 2021 by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters.

This season, with the Nets, Harden has averaged 22.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 10.2 assists (second in the NBA) in 37.0 minutes per contest across 44 games (all starts), making him the only player this season with such averages. Harden has recorded nine triple-doubles, tied for the third-most in the league this season. He’s also registered 29 double-doubles, tied for the sixth-most in the league this season and the most among guards.

Earlier this month, Harden was named to the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, his 10th career selection. His streak of 10 consecutive All-Star selections is the second-longest active streak in the NBA.

Prior to joining the Nets in January 2021, Harden spent parts of nine seasons (2012-21) with the Rockets. During that time, Harden was named the 2017-18 NBA MVP after leading the NBA in points per game (30.4) and finishing third in assists (8.8). He was also among the top-three vote-getters for the award each season from 2016-20. Harden ended his Houston career as the franchise’s all-time leader in three-pointers (2,029), free throws (5,554) and assists (4,796) while ranking second in team history with 18,365 total points and third with 1,087 steals.

Harden, a three-time NBA scoring champion (2018-20) is one of four players in league history to have multiple seasons averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and 10 assists. He’s in the midst of the third such season of his career. The only other players to do so more than once are Russell Westbrook (five times) and Hall of Famers Magic Johnson (three times) and Oscar Robertson (five times). His 36.1 points per game average in 2018-19 was the second-highest by any player since the start of the 1970-71 season, behind only Hall of Famer Michael Jordan’s average of 37.1 in 1986-87.

In his 13th NBA season, Harden was initially drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft where he went on to play three seasons and captured the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011-12.

Prior to entering the NBA, Harden spent two years (2007-09) at Arizona State, earning All-Pac-10 First Team honors twice and earning consensus first-team All-America honors. He was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year in his second and final collegiate season, leading the Sun Devils to a 25-10 record while averaging 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

Millsap has appeared in 1,076 career games (745 starts) across 16 NBA seasons with Brooklyn, Denver, Atlanta and Utah, recording averages of 13.5 points on .489 shooting from the floor, .341 from three-point range and .736 from the free-throw line, along with 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks in 28.2 minutes per game.

This season with the Nets, Millsap appeared in 24 games and averaged 3.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 11.3 minutes per contest. Millsap’s teams have qualified for the postseason 12 times in his 15 NBA seasons, and he’s played in 129 total playoff games (75 starts) with averages of 12.2 points, while shooting .457 from the field, along with 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27.5 minutes per contest.

Millsap was originally selected by Utah with the No. 47 overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. After seven seasons with the Jazz, he signed with Atlanta where he was named an All-Star in four consecutive seasons, as he averaged 17.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. In 2015-16, Millsap was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team when he was the only NBA player to rank in the top 15 in both steals and blocks per game. For his career, he’s totaled 1,322 steals and 1,043 blocks, making him one of 10 players in NBA history to post at least 1,300 and 1,000. Millsap played his college basketball at Louisiana Tech University where he became the only player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in rebounds in three consecutive seasons.

During his time with Philadelphia, Curry appeared in and started 102 games over a season-plus, averaging 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest. So far this season, Curry has averaged a career-best 4.0 assists per game and shot .400 from beyond the arc.

Drummond signed with Philadelphia this past offseason and appeared in 49 games (12 starts) for the 76ers. His 433 total rebounds rank tied for 18th in the NBA this season. While with Philadelphia, Drummond posted four games of at least 20 rebounds.

After being selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons appeared in 275 games, all as a starter. During his time with the 76ers, the 2017-18 Rookie of the Year was selected to three All-Star Games (2019-21), two NBA All-Defensive First Teams (2020-21) and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2019-20.

He also posted 35 career triple-doubles between the regular season and playoffs. That mark is second in franchise history, only behind Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain.

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