Kevin Durant on Harden-Simmons trade: 'Everybody got what they wanted' / News - Basketnews.com

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The James Harden-Ben Simmons trade was the blockbuster that the NBA fans around the world were waiting for yesterday evening. Brooklyn Nets sent one of their biggest stars to the Philadelphia 76ers for a disgruntled player in return who refused to even practice with the team.

Free throws this season

81%16,9Points made:16,9Accuracy:81,3%Place in standings:10Record max:32Record min:5Most made FTs:James HardenTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

Nets superstar point guard Kyrie Irving was not a man of many words reacting to the trade. Did he feel that Harden wanted to be traded? "I can't say that we feel that in the locker room, but we get hints," Irving told the media.

Kyrie has been in and out of Nets rotation for months now due to his status of being unvaccinated. Is this somehow related to James Harden? Irving did not deny it: "I saw a few things that maybe that impacted things [with James Harden], but who knows?"

"I'm not here to judge him, I'm not here to talk down on James...," the point guard continued. "I just want him to be happy, I just want everyone in this league to be happy."

How will the Nets welcome Ben Simmons after his 'break-up' with the 76ers? "Open arms. Open arms," Kyrie said. "I think we'll finally get to hear it from him and hear his side."

During the NBA All-Star draft last night, Kyrie's teammate Kevin Durant was glad the internal turmoil was finally over. "I'm excited for our team, looking forward to finishing the season out with this new group and these new players," KD told the NBA on TNT crew.

"Playoffs are right around the corner, so we have to fast-track into getting used to each other, but I'm excited," the superstar continued. "You know, everybody got what they wanted."

The other Nets point guard Patty Mills called the James Harden trade 'a moment of staying together': "I think it probably just narrows our focus a little bit more, and the distractions can now leave us and we can focus on the task at hand and still on what our goal has been."

Asked whether he agreed with Durant's assertion that 'everybody got what they wanted' in the Harden trade, Nets forward Blake Griffin agreed. "Ben was done there. You can see that from not playing," the forward explained. "I think we definitely got what we wanted, guys that want to be here and guys that want to play."

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