James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets had a frustrating 2020-21 NBA season. They were the preseason favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2021 NBA Finals but got tripped up by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. The reality was a bitter pill to swallow for the Nets, considering that they likely would have defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the conference finals. Brooklyn would have also been the favorites in the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, who took down LeBron James and the Lakers in the opening round of the postseason.
All that is behind the Nets now, though. For Harden, the upcoming 2021-22 NBA season is when the rest of the league will truly experience the terrifying strength of the Nets — assuming that they will be healthy, per Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated.
SI: Why do you think next season will be the year you capture your first NBA title?
JH: At full strength, nobody can beat us. I’m just going to leave it at that.
Harden struggled to stay healthy last season, which was also the case for Kyrie Irving, thus leaving Kevin Durant as the main functioning member of the Nets' Big Three. Harden joined the Nets in January when he was traded to Brooklyn by the Houston Rockets.
Apart from Harden, Irving, and Durant, the Nets also found a way to bolster that roster by adding Patty Mills to the roster in the offseason.
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