Winners & Losers: James Harden Traded to the Brooklyn Nets

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 01: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets is defended by Caris LeVert #22 of the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on November 01, 2019 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)

Harden's wanted out of Houston and his wish was granted after Tuesday's dismal performance against the Lakers and subsequent dark press conference where he said the situation was “something that I don’t think can be fixed.” His teammates, like DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, appeared to be turning on him and the Rockets future looked dim with limited draft capital over the next few seasons, plus an aging roster that was forged under a new front office and head coach. The organization that catered to all his wants and needs during his eight-plus seasons in Houston did it one last time, and for that Harden should be eternally thankful.

He landed in what was reportedly his preferred trade desitnation, he gets to team up with his former sidekick in Kevin Durant, and top point guard in Kyrie Irving—whenever he returns to the lineup—and his new home just happens to be a city with some of the best nightlife (once things return to normal) in the NBA. Harden's loving life right now. 

Drama aside with Kyrie, a three-headed monster of KD, Kyrie, and Harden should scare everybody else in the NBA. We'll ignore Brooklyn's glarring defensive issues for the time being because Harden doesn't care. Nor do the overwhelming majority of Nets fans right now. Harden's no longer a Rocket, he's now playing in the Eastern Conference, and his path to an elusive championship is clearer than it's been in three seasons. 

Every team with championship aspirations in the Eastern Conference—Milwaukee, Boston, Miami—lost out when Harden was acquired by Brooklyn. The Nets are now the overwhelming favorite in the East to advance to the NBA Finals after their bold move. Firepower wise, nobody can rival Brooklyn. But nobody was hit harder losing out on Harden's services—the Bucks, Celtics and Heat were all destinations Harden reportedly would have accepted a trade to—than the 76ers.

For starters, reports made it seem like Philadelphia was dead serious about trading for Harden earlier Wednesday when all of a sudden a deal felt imminent. The package would've centered around Ben Simmons and while losing out on the young, dynamic point guard would not have been easy to swallow, it's tantalizing to think what the Sixers could've been if they ran out a starting lineup that feature Joel Embiid and Harden under the tutleage of Doc Rivers. Brooklyn's offer of a massive amount of draft picks plus Caris LeVert was clearly too good of an offer for Houston to pass up. The Sixers watched the three-time scoring champion slip from its grips and now will have to see him numerous times during the reagular-season and possibly in the playoffs. 

Even if you want to knock the Nets for giving up a ton of draft picks and future pick swaps—which is completely legit considering the last time the franchise made an all-in trade like this—to acquire Harden and sacrificing two of their best young players in Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, it's incredibly hard to knock them for pulling the trigger on acquiring arguably one of the top 5 players in the game (he's No. 6 on our list). Brooklyn was already in a win-now mentality for the next few seasons while it has the services of KD and Kyrie through the summer of 2022 (each has a player option for the 2022-23 season). So you get why the Nets would mortgage the future in order to acquire Harden, whose contract mirrors the same length as his new superstar teammates.

That's because we all know NBA titles are won by teams featuring multiple superstars—barring the occasional aberration—and when you march out two top 5 players onto the court—like the Lakers did with LeBron James and Anthony Davis last season or when the Warriors featured Steph Curry and KD—you're usually earmarked for at least a Finals appearance. Roll out three of them and your chances only increase of raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Listen, the Nets gave up a ton for the 2018 NBA MVP, but if Brooklyn wins one title no Nets fan is going to give a damn about all those future first-round draft picks and unprotected pick swaps (which, truthfully, won't be a big issue for the Nets for the next several seasons since they'll be so good, but it could be huge down the road). Players of Harden's caliber rarely become available. Championship windows are really tiny. Brooklyn is all in. They landed a legendary offensive player and, just as importantly, prevented him from going to another Eastern Conference rival. Defensive and depth off the bench issues aside right now, the Nets are obviously massive winners. 

We all know Irving's been absent for about a week now and his return to the Nets doesn't appear to be imminent—for personal and NBA COVID protocol reasons. Does the addition of Harden change Irving's desire to keep missing games for which he hasn't explained his prolonged absence? Can he continue not showing up to work any longer if he's really committed to his pal KD, his other teammates, chasing a title, and/or earning a paycheck?

If Wednesday's trade doesn't gas him up to suit up ASAP, outside pressure on Irving may prove to be too great for him to not return soon to the Nets. We all want to see what Kyrie, KD, and Harden look like together and the longer Irving delays his return to the team—for whatever his reasons—the worse its going to be defining new roles, rotations, learning each others idiosycrocies, and developing chemistry with his new backcourt mate. Kyrie's always going to do Kyrie and maybe he truly doesn't give a damn about any of this. But if he's still the baller Nets fans believe him to be, this move by Brooklyn should light a fire under his ass to get back onto the court. If not...oh boy.  

Everybody wondered how toxic it could get in Houston when the Rockets said they weren't going to trade Harden before the season starts and we got out answer—it was pretty god damn awful. Harden's now former teammates were less than complimentary about the vibes around the Rockets thanks to Harden's lack of commitment when training camp opened (as he partied in Vegas and Atlanta), running afoul of the NBA's COVID protocols, and his less than inspiring play once the games mattered. We'll respectfully decline to mention his suspect physique. 

The organization got rid of its malcontent and undoubtedly breathed a massive sigh of relief when the deal was agreed upon Wednesday. Houston's wheeling and dealing wasn't reserved for just acquring all those Brooklyn draft picks, of course. The Rockets went out and shipped the acquired LeVert to the Pacers for Victor Oladipo who will seamlessly slide into the shooting guard spot vacated by Harden. Meanwhile, John Wall must've been ecstatic to hear the news. Now Wall, acquired in the Russell Westbrook deal back in December, doesn't have to share the ball with a backcourt mate who looked completely disengaged and ideally has someone in Oladipo who wants to play with him. Rockets coach Stephen Silas, who had the uneviable task of trying to motivate his team while its supertstar/leader feigned interest, must feel like he has a new lease on life. 

From a Pacers's perspective, how can you not cast them a winner? Unexpectedly jumping into the transaction, the Pacers pulled off an impressive move sending Victor Oladipo to Houston. 

That's noteworthy because Oladipo's long-term commitment to the franchise he joined starting with the 2017-18 season has constantly been questioned and Indiana shipping him to Houston for the services of a player with All-Star caliber ability in LeVert and a second-round draft pick feels like an extremely savvy move. Indiana now has control of LeVert, who is cheaper and argubly just as productive as Oladipo, for two more seasons. Meanwhile, Oladipo's contract expires at the end of the season and with his injury history it seemed far-fetched Indiana would pay him big dollars in free agency. 

Yes, Steve Nash is now coaching one of the most talented teams in the NBA. However, the pressure is now solely on Nash to figure this out and make sure that Harden, Irving, and Durant can work. That's a tall task for any NBA coach, but especially a rookie NBA head coach who is only a few weeks on the job. The spotlight was already on the Nets, but they just went all in on this one. It will be up to Nash and company to figure this out and make it work. If not? Well, the Nets have already proven that they'll do whatever it takes to win. — Zach Frydenlund