It appears as though the Brooklyn Nets aren’t too upset about Thursday’s blockbuster trade that sent James Harden (and Paul Millsap) to the Sixers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and a couple of future first-round picks.
Several of Harden’s former teammates don’t seem to be dwelling on his departure. Hours after the trade was made public, Kevin Durant appeared on TNT’s Inside the NBA as part of part of the NBA All-Star Draft, saying that he was “excited for (his) team,” while adding that “I think everybody got what they wanted” in the trade.
“I’m excited for our team,” Durant said. “Looking forward to finishing the season out with this new group and these new players. Playoffs are right around the corner so we got to fast-track it to get used to each other, but I’m excited. I think everybody got what they wanted.”
Blake Griffin reportedly reiterated KD’s comments following Brooklyn’s loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday, going so far as to say that the Nets have improved.
“I think we got better,” Griffin told reporters. “We definitely got what we wanted: Guys that want to be here and guys that want to play.”
Meanwhile, Patty Mills called the trade “a moment of staying together,” before implying that Harden’s departure leaves Brooklyn with less distractions.
“I think it probably just narrows our focus a little bit more, and the distractions can now leave us and we can focus on the task at hand,” Mills said.
On the flip side, Kyrie Irving said the Nets “respect him [Harden] for” orchestrating the trade. He explained that he wants “everybody who was involved with this to be at peace.”
Irving also responded to a tweet from The Athletic that suggested that the Nets player “was ready for James Harden to move on.”
“Lol I guess this is ‘breaking news’ media nowadays. Keep my family name out y’all Simpleton articles. The Puppets are running wild Again,” he wrote.
Check out Kyrie’s comments on the Harden trade below.
