NBA trade deadline 2022 - Ben Simmons, James Harden and the league's wildest game of chicken

Whatever denials might exist as the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers stage a high-stakes game of NBA trade deadline chicken, sources across the league said Monday there absolutely is a chance of a James Harden-Ben Simmons trade happening before 3 p.m. ET Thursday.

It is a complex and uncertain negotiation, the likes of which the NBA rarely sees. And it has put this deadline on a razor's edge: The league will either witness a title-shifting blockbuster that could shape the next few years or a temporary reprieve that sets up an offseason showdown between the same teams.

Here are the key stakeholders:

Ben Simmons

Simmons has been fined nearly $20 million already this season and badly wants out of Philadelphia. Going through all this and landing in Brooklyn could be declared a win. If there's no deal, he could end up fighting the Sixers in what could be a gruesome arbitration over his salary.

James Harden

Harden turned down a $160 million extension last fall with the hope of signing a $220 million extension in the summer but is having his worst offensive season in a decade and has missed a quarter of his team's games over the past two seasons.

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers have gone 16-5 since Christmas but are likely underdogs against the Bucks, a healthy Nets team and perhaps even the Heat, if the Sixers have to start a playoff run with their current roster — and thus could face intense scrutiny for not moving Simmons and wasting an MVP campaign from 27-year-old Joel Embiid.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are currently in an 0-8 freefall and watched Harden stage what, to the outside world, looked like a «trade me» protest during their miserable Western Conference trip last week. To put it in perspective, last season Harden had