The Nets sent Harden to Philadelphia before the transfer trade deadline, and in the view of the New York Times, the Nets completed the deal to learn the lesson of the failure to form the Galaxy Battleship in 2013, if the loss is not stopped in time, Harden's own departure may be chicken and egg, which may form a chain reaction, causing Durant to leave.
After exchanging Harden last season, the outside world had high expectations for the team with the Big Three, however, Durant, Harden and Irving only played 16 games together before breaking up. If Harden insists on leaving, the Nets naturally can't stop it, and this helplessness can be felt from the words of general manager Sean Max. "The whole thing you see is the most frustrating thing, we had to trade Harden, although the team has the so-called Big Three and they can't play together for a long time, that frustration is worse than losing 8-9 games, we're not going to make those decisions in one, two or five games, it takes a big enough sample, but for now, we're really fed up with it."
When Harden came to the Nets, what he saw was his offensive ability, but in fact, the Nets already had Durant and Irving, and they didn't need Harden's type of player. In Harden's trade, the Nets even sent away Jarrett Allen and others, Allen has now become an All-Star level inside the Cavaliers, he could have worked well with Durant and Irving at the Nets, but it was that trade that made the Nets lose a potential inside line.
When a mistake happens, all that can be done is to stop the loss in time, and in 2013, the Nets used to build the Galactic Battleships, they exchanged Paul Pierce and Garnett, and formed the Big Four with Delon Williams and Joe Johnson, which at the time seemed to be a bold move, and the Nets had a lineup that attacked the championship, but at the cost of losing a lot of draft picks. As a result, the Galactico soon sank, and due to multiple draft picks, the Nets had to choose to swing, and it took many years to start to slow down.
Unlike the Pierce and Garnett era, the Nets acted very decisively this time, and they quickly sent Harden away. In the past few weeks, some media have reported that Harden is very unhappy at the Nets and that he is willing to be traded to Philadelphia to join forces with Embiid. Although Harden denied the news in an interview afterwards, this still did not stop the rumors from spreading. Harden's own negativity also made the Nets unbearable, and in the Feb. 3 game away to the Kings, Harden played the worst game of his career, he looked listless, shooting only 2-of-11 in the game, and he was in a state of mind in the game like he wanted to go elsewhere.
Harden has the right to jump out of the contract this summer, and the Nets understand that even if Harden is not traded, he may leave the team in the summer, when the Nets will play chicken and egg, not only can not keep Harden, but also lost combat effectiveness, the future Durant may also leave. But now, the team has at least stabilized the situation, and they have exchanged Ben Simmons, who, despite his flawed shooting, is good at organization and defense and can deliver what the Nets need. As Nets general manager Max said, the deal gives the team a new start, at least, they can return to their normal way of playing.
![The Galactic Battleship TES was ridiculed by thousands of people, and what was even more desperate was the "Devil's Schedule" after the year.[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)