The Brooklyn Nets acquired two draft picks as part of the trade compensation from the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden after Matisse Thybulle became a sticking point.
The trade of Harden was built around Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
“At the very end of the negotiations and they really started in earnest this morning,” said Adrian Wojnarowski. “Philadelphia lobbed calls a couple of times without a real response. Pretty quick phone calls.
“The conversation changed today getting closer to the trade deadline.
“Ultimately Matisse Thybulle, he was certainly a player the Nets had interest in.”
Wojnarowski added that the 76ers keeping Thybulle out of the deal led to the two first round picks going to the Nets.
“The Nets just felt like it was time to break ties with James Harden. They were very confident he was planning on leaving them at the end of the season.”