Reports: Houston Rockets trade James Harden to Brooklyn Nets in multi-team blockbuster
James Harden made it clear he wanted out. The eight-time NBA All-Star and 2018 MVP finally got his wish Wednesday when the Houston Rockets traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster move that will have a ripple effect on both conferences.
The trade will send Harden to the Nets in a multi-team deal involving the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to ESPN and The Athletic. The Rockets will receive Caris LeVert, Dante Exum, Radions Kurucs, four first-round picks and four first-round pick swaps. The Cavaliers will get Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince. The Rockets simultaneously struck a second deal sending LeVert to the Indiana pacers in exchange for Victor Oladipo.
Harden’s move to Brooklyn could make the Nets the leading contender in the Eastern Conference if their superstar talents can coexist. Harden joins a loaded roster that includes Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jeff Green and Landry Shamet. The Rockets should remain competitive in the Western Conference in the short term with Oladipo, who is on an expiring contract, and in the long term general manager Rafael Stone gains a treasure trove of future assets.
Kings coach Luke Walton reacted to the news before his team played the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
“I think Brooklyn will be a very entertaining team to watch,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “… Houston got a very good player in the deal, too. They’ve got Vic now. They’ve got (John) Wall and (DeMarcus) Cousins and Eric Gordon. That’s still a very good team. Christian Wood, obviously, is having a great year. So the West is a monster and really the East has turned itself into a pretty legit, loaded conference as well.”
Harden led the NBA in scoring in 2019-20, averaging 34.3 points per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 35.5% from 3-point range. He is in the second year of a four-year, $171 million contract with a $47.4 million player option in the final year.
The Rockets were actively seeking an equitable deal for weeks, but the situation deteriorated quickly over the past 24 hours. Harden discussed his feelings publicly for the first time following a 117-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
“We’re just not good enough … obviously chemistry, talent wise, just everything, and it was clear, like I said, these last few games,” Harden said. “… I love this city. I’ve literally done everything that I can. This situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed, so, yeah, thanks.”
With that, Harden stood up and walked away, ending his postgame interview after two questions, and ending his eight-year run with the Rockets. Houston coach Stephen Silas announced Wednesday that Harden was told not to come to practice, saying: “We felt it was best for the group and best for James.”
Wall, who came to Houston in the deal that sent Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards, addressed the issue following the loss to the Lakers. Wall didn’t mention Harden by name, but he made it clear the whole ordeal was taking a toll on the Rockets, who lost four of their last five games to fall to 3-6. During that stretch, Harden averaged 17.4 points on 37.8% shooting from the field and 25.6% shooting from 3-point range.
“At the end of the day, a lot of guys here want to compete at a high level,” said Wall, who is staging a comeback with the Rockets after being sidelined by injuries for the past two years. “And like I told everybody tonight, and I told the guys before, when the one-through-15 guys are all on the same page and they’re committing, they know their role, they know what they want to do, they know what they want to get out of this, and that’s to win, you all will be fine. But when you have certain guys in the mix who don’t want to buy in all as one, it’s gonna be hard to do anything special or do anything good as a basketball team.”
Cousins, who is staging an injury comeback of his own after spending his best years in Sacramento, discussed the issue Wednesday before the trade was made, making it clear the situation in Houston was untenable.
“My interest is to play with John Wall, to be brutally honest,” Cousins said. “… The disrespect (from Harden) started way before. This isn’t something that, you know, all of a sudden started last night. ... It’s completely unfair to the rest of the guys in the locker room.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 1:40 PM.
