While the Brooklyn Nets publicly claimed they weren't entertaining any James Harden deals and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski even reported there were no talks ongoing approximately 24 hours before the deadline, sources tell Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports that they started negotiating with the Philadelphia 76ers in the beginning of February.

The Nets knew that Harden intended to leave for the Sixers in the offseason, but they didn't want the news becoming public.

"I don’t need this stuff affecting our locker room," Nets general manager Sean Marks told an associate.

While Daryl Morey took a hard line negotiating, he caved on most by Thursday