Phone Call Leaked! Insider Details Of How The Sixers Pulled Off The James Harden Trade!

The goal for the Philadelphia 76ers was always James Harden. He was always the one who was on their radar.

Sure, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown, and others popped up on the radar, but it was always Harden.

So when the Sixers had a chance to acquire him from the Brooklyn Nets, president Daryl Morey had to jump on this opportunity.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski detailed the phone call between Morey and Nets GM Sean Marks on how Harden became a member of the Sixers:

Transcripts Of The Phone Call:

IN THE FINAL minutes of negotiations, Daryl Morey was shouting to Sean Marks: “Stay on the f-***ing phone”@ Here it was 1:15 p.m E.T on Thursday,  & the the Philadelphia 76er’s president of basketball operations had come too far to let this deal die. He implored Marks to stay on the line until they had an agreement on the biggest trade of the year! 

“Were going to finish this”! Morey said. He was on the cusp of getting disgruntled star James Harden back into it, the protections on these draft picks were in reach, & Morey wanted it over.

For months, everyone had told Morey to settle, cave to the marketplace’s mediocre offers & unburden the sixers of the Simmons saga. To hell with that! Morey wanted Harden, & now it was here! 

“We’re dropping F-bombs now, Daryl?” Marks said, joking. 

Morey obviously has a great history with Harden dating back to their time with the Houston Rockets. This is the guy he wanted all along even before Harden was moved to the Nets.

Now that he is with the Sixers, is time for Philadelphia to jell and get ready for what they hope will be a long playoff run that ends in a title.

With reports out in the open of them going back and forth, even coach Doc Rivers was surprised the deal got done, things finally finalized on Thursday afternoon about an hour and 45 minutes before the 3 p.m. EST deadline.

Ky Carlin: Sixers Wire/Usa Today