Boy oh boy, what a day, huh? As reported by Woj and Shams, James Harden has FINALLY been traded from the Houston Rockets in a HUGE, blockbuster, four-team deal. Here’s the break down:
Houston gets: Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurcus, 4 1st round picks, 4 pick swaps
Indiana gets: Caris LeVert, one 2nd round pick
Cleveland gets: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince
Brooklyn gets: James Harden
There is A LOT to break down here. What’s going to happen with Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert after a promising season, and tenure with the Nets? How good will the new look Rockets be? I’ll be posting articles about those topics later this week, so be sure to look out for those. Make sure you come back everyday for more NBA content while you’re at it. Today I want to focus on the biggest topic of the day: James Harden leaving Houston.
It wasn’t exactly a surprise to me that we got this trade today. Woj had been reporting for a couple days now that the trade discussions had ramped up, noting that the 76ers and Nets were the front runners, while Boston and Toronto reportedly also threw their hat in the ring for Harden. Not to mention the post-game press conference heard around the world from James Harden, where he stated that the Rockets “just aren’t good enough” to win games right now, and that he believes that the situation that he is in “can’t be fixed.” I heard that last night and I assumed that Harden knew something that we didn’t know, and a trade would be coming sooner rather than later.
First of all, I am very surprised by Brooklyn for a lot of reasons (more on that in a few days,) but mainly, I am shocked that with all the reported drama with Kyrie Irving, that the Nets were able to get this trade done without losing Irving. I was absolutely convinced that the Nets would have to, and maybe even want to, depart with Kyrie to get this deal done with Houston, so hats off to the Nets for managing to keep Kyrie, and create, on paper, the most talented big three of all-time. On paper, this trio is better than: LeBron/Wade/Bosh, KD/Steph/Klay, Duncan/Parker/Manu, Bird/McHale/Parrish, and Magic/Worthy/Kareem just to name a few. There is zero doubt about it. Two former MVPs, and a perennial All-Star in Kyrie Irving all in the same uniform. When Kyrie Irving is your third option, you know that your team is blessed with talent. I do have one question, and one question only, though. How will it all work?
I have an idea of how it’ll work, and man will it piss off some Nets fans. We have never seen anything like this before. Well, we sort of have, but on a much lesser scale in the Westbrook/PG13/Melo trio in Oklahoma City a few years ago. Kevin Durant is on pace to be in the top three of MVP voting, if not winning the award. James Harden, while not doing great this season, has proven in years past that he is able to score the ball at an elite level, while being at the top of the MVP ladder. Kyrie Irving, for the most part, has always been on a good team, and has put up All-Star caliber numbers. Each of these guys have the ability to light up the league on any given night, and now they all play for the same team. That might just be the problem, though.
In the deal, the Nets traded away Jarrett Allen, who was averaging 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game, COMING OFF THE BENCH. Along with departing with Allen, they also traded away one of my picks for 6th Man of the Year, in Caris LeVert, who was averaging 18.5 points, 6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds a game coming off the bench behind Kevin Durant. Those two were a good scoring tandem when Kyrie and Durant were off the floor. In one single day, the Nets traded away their 3rd and 5th highest scorers on their roster. Yes, Harden will make up for some of that, maybe even equal what they were able to produce by himself. My biggest concern for the Nets is this: who is going to score outside of the Big 3?
I’ll give you a minute. Outside of the new Big 3, Deandre Jordan, and Joe Harris, name ONE other Net that isn’t injured. Without looking at it, the ONLY other Net that I could think of was Jeff Green, and that is solely because he played in Boston for a couple years. When it comes down to it, there just aren’t enough basketballs on the floor to get everyone enough shots. Let’s say, for instance, that all three of KD, Kyrie, and Harden average 25 points per game the rest of the season, which according to my research, has never happened before in league history. Let’s say that happens; who else is going to score for the Nets? This season, the average point per game scored in the entire league for one team is 111 points per game. You’re missing out on 36 points right there, not to mention the nights that teams could go for 135+.
Joe Harris is good for about 14 per game. Everyone else on the roster? Sub 10 PPG. This just isn’t enough to get the job done, in my opinion. Again, this has never happened before, so I don’t know what to expect. What I do know is that these three, while incredible basketball players, do not have personalities that mesh well. Can they put their different playing styles and egos aside for what is now clearly a Championship or bust season for the Nets? We’ll see in the next couple months whether I’m right, or if I’ll have to eat my own words.
Round The Game 
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