NBA Rumors: 76ers Won't Trade Ben Simmons for James Harden

The Houston Rockets don't want to discuss any trades with the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden unless Ben Simmons is in the conversation.

What will it take for the Philadelphia 76ers to convince the Houston Rockets to send James Harden to the City of Brotherly Love? It would take Ben Simmons, apparently. It's unclear if the Rockets would swap Harden for Simmons straight up or demand more.

But regardless of what it would take, it's not going to happen. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Rockets only want to discuss a possible Harden deal with the Sixers unless Simmons is involved. And at this moment, the 76ers are not willing to part ways with the former first-overall pick.

"As far as the Sixers are concerned, unless they’re putting in Ben Simmons, which I’m told they’re not inclined to do right now, I don’t see a deal structure that makes sense for Philly outside of a guy like Ben Simmons," Charania reported on Monday night.

While many may argue swapping the 24-year-old two-time All-Star for a 31-year-old former MVP is a fair trade-off, the Sixers understandably refuse to break up the Simmons-Joel Embiid duo.

Back in August, Sixers General Manager Elton Brand made it apparent the front office intends to build around Simmons and Embiid this season -- not choose one and build around the other.

Many might've thought that mindset would change with Daryl Morey in the building and running the show, but it hasn't. While Morey seemed to have favored Embiid slightly more than Simmons during his introductory press conference earlier this month, the former Rockets GM remains on the same page as Brand.

The 76ers don't want to move on from Simmons. And the Rockets refuse to seriously discuss any trade scenario involving Harden despite the veteran's obvious attempts to try and force his way out of Houston.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_