The Brooklyn Nets made it through most of this turbulent season thus far without a ton of credible trade rumors. But, lately, James Harden's name has popped up every few days with solid reports hinting that Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey would love to acquire The Beard in an offseason trade for disgruntled star Ben Simmons. Morey, of course, famously traded for Harden when he was with the Houston Rockets.
Now the latest has us wondering if Harden wouldn't prefer to play and live in Philly more than his current home in Brooklyn.
Per a new report from Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report:
Harden remains invested in competing for the title in Brooklyn this season, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. But Harden has recently informed several confidants—including former teammates and coaches—of his interest in exploring other opportunities outside of Brooklyn this summer, league sources told B/R.
Fischer goes into detail on Harden's issues in Brooklyn, so let's look at how the Nets can do a better job keeping him happy so he doesn't leave.
What Nets must do to keep James Harden happy
3) Upgrade lineup ahead of NBA trade deadline
According to Fischer, one of Harden's issues is with Nets head coach Steve Nash for not finding a consistent closing lineup.
Fischer says “Nets coach Steve Nash's fluid rotations have also disappointed Harden, sources told B/R. Nash has favored hot-hand closing lineups, rather than a fixed crunch-time unit.”
Now, you can probably imagine Nash reading that and feeling it's a bit unfair. The coaching staff learned superstar guard Kyrie Irving wouldn't be available for an indefinite period of time just before the year kicked off. A good chunk of the roster is new. Several newbies are either rookies or pre-wash cycle veterans. At one point, 10 players were in health and safety protocols. We've seen illness, injury, and personal reasons keep players like Nic Claxton, Joe Harris, and others out of the lineup. And now Kevin Durant has an MCL sprain. We can assure you, Nash would have liked nothing more than to close games with a consistent unit. Nash talks about seeking continuity more than Daryl Morey probably talks about Harden and analytics.
Still, it appears as if the constant lineup tinkering has frustrated The Beard.
To that end, the team needs to work the phones for reinforcement. They have trade exceptions worth $6.2 million and $11.4 million, and they now need to use one if not both.
It doesn't matter if the incoming players they're getting are long-term fits. They cannot worry about the future of anyone except their Big Three right now.
Nic Claxton has been terrific when he's healthy. Some of Brooklyn's most complete games have come with Claxton in the lineup providing a switch-heavy look defensively. But he's only 22 years old and is out again, this time with a hamstring. As promising as he is and as well as he has filled the void left when Jarrett Allen departed, he's just not someone they can reasonably rely on to be there down the stretch come May. He misses games too frequently.
They should at least look into what veteran players on bad teams might be available, and see if a rebuilding team wants the Georgia product.
Adding a pair of helpful veterans like a Kenrich Williams or Derrick Favors might go a long way to providing that lineup boost while the team gets healthy. These guys are not spectacular and are perhaps only marginal upgrades while Claxton is injured. But this was meant to just illustrate the point. They need to work the phones here.
Recently, we got an update that Joe Harris had a setback in his rehab. They've already checked the temperature on his trade market. It's time to go shopping there too just in case there's a fit that can help them while Durant is out, and also later for a stretch run. Blazers wing Robert Covington (whose salary falls just out of reach for their trade exceptions) might be obtainable here. If Harris still has no return date by Feb. 10, they might want to pull the trigger on something like that.
2) Put a $270 million full-court press on their superstar
The Nets traded the farm for their All-NBA player. They gave up four unprotected first-round picks and four unprotected first-round picks swaps, but that was just the job required to get him here. Now they have to make sure he wants to stay.
The first thing the team can do is make it clear (if it wasn't already) that Joe and Clara Wu Tsai are prepared to offer him every penny of a five-year max after the season.
Per Fischer:
“is new city could also be an issue. According to multiple sources, Harden has not enjoyed living in Brooklyn, compared to his days as a central Houston magnate. Outside of the change in climate, the chasm between state taxes in New York versus Texas is quite obvious as well.
What could help him navigate those state taxes like a record-breaking max contract good through his age-37 season? But they may also want to check in with him about what specifically made him feel like a “central magnate” and see if they can't create some of that feeling for him in New York City.
Do they want to explore starting a charity in his name? Does he want his own sports bar or night club like Walt “Clyde” Frazier or Jay-Z have enjoyed? What advice can Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez give him about being a local business magnate and star athlete in this city? These are the types of conversations they'll want to have, building that Harden empire state of mind in the Empire State.
1) Make clear there will be a resolution one way or the other on Kyrie Irving's part-time player status
Per Fischer:
Harden has been vocal to Nets figures and close contacts alike about his frustrations regarding Kyrie Irving‘s part-time playing status. A recent injury to Kevin Durant has exacerbated the issue, leaving Harden to shoulder the majority of the offensive burden during Brooklyn home games.
Here's where it gets tricky. We can suggest the Nets find a resolution, but the hard part is executing that. Kevin Durant is good friends with Kyrie Irving and if he wants Irving around, even as a part-time unvaccinated player, for the next four or five years, GM Sean Marks may see value in simply deferring to his top star.
Somehow, someway, the Nets need to make Harden feel reasonably comfortable that by the time they offer him $70 million more than any other team can offer him, they'll also have assurances all of his teammates will be full-time players.
How that happens is up in the air. Irving could get vaccinated (maybe they personally fund some plant-based vaccine efforts), a new law could provide a change to local mandates, (maybe a combination of vaccination status and natural immunity ushers us into the endemic phase of COVID-19), or they could sign-and-trade Irving for Ben Simmons or someone else who would be available every single game.
If none of that changes and Irving is signed without a change to his availability, they should expect Harden to seriously explore new homes this offseason.
***
With this Harden noise getting louder and louder, the alarm bells need to be going off in Brooklyn. The Nets must do whatever they can to keep Harden invested in the franchise and willing to stick around for the long haul. They have options to attempt to do just that, so they must get to work as this trade deadline approaches.
Follow Us
Subscribe