Report: Sixers, Nets Not Having 'Meaningful' Trade Talks Right Now

Before last Friday, the Brooklyn Nets didn't want anything to do with negotiating trades centered around their disgruntled star guard, James Harden. But as

Before last Friday, the Brooklyn Nets didn't want anything to do with negotiating trades centered around their disgruntled star guard, James Harden. 

But as Harden expressed his frustrations privately and publicly, the Nets suddenly became open to talking shop -- specifically with the inquiring Philadelphia 76ers.

If the Sixers don't land Harden before Thursday's deadline, they still intend to pursue him during the offseason. Ideally, the Sixers would like to fastrack the process of pairing up the former MVP with their MVP-hopeful center, Joel Embiid.

On Tuesday, it was reported that the Sixers and the Nets discussed a possible trade. However, many reports indicated that a deal was still far away, and there was a lot of work to get done before the end of the week.

When Wednesday rolled around, many reports indicated that talks were ongoing and the Nets have high demands for Harden. Brian Windhorst of ESPN noted that Brooklyn's looking to acquire two or three more players in addition to Ben Simmons.

Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported there were talks about a package including Simmons, Matisse Thybulle, and Seth Curry being of desire to Brooklyn. Bleacher Report's Jason Dumas mentioned something similar but included Philadelphia's Andre Drummond and Brooklyn's Patty Mills into the equation.

While it seems a lot had transpired throughout the day on Wednesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that talks between the Sixers and the Nets aren't as serious as they seem with all of the rumors going around.

Woj: “Brooklyn and Philadelphia are not engaged in anything meaningful, I’m told.”

(h/t @APOOCH)

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"The way they have planned to from the beginning, they've been apart, and they've been separated because of the injuries," said Wojnarowski on NBA Countdown on Wednesday. "I think right now, while you don't rule out the possibility that anything can happen leading up to the trade deadline -- Brooklyn and Philadelphia are not engaged in anything meaningful, I'm told."

The Nets want a lot from the Sixers for James Harden. That shouldn't come as a surprise, considering they weren't motivated to move the star guard prior to his latest frustrations. While both teams could find common ground before Thursday's deadline and make a deal happen, it seems a Harden-Simmons blockbuster trade is still far away at this time. 

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