It appears that James Harden is finally getting the trade he wanted. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic, the former MVP is being traded from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal which involves four teams and multiple stars.
This is what the deal looks like, based on current reporting:
Nets get: James Harden
Rockets get: Rodions Kurucs, Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, four unprotected first-round picks (Brooklyn 2022, 2024 and 2026, Milwaukee 2022), and four unprotected first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, 2027).
Cavaliers get: Taurean Prince and Jarrett Allen
Pacers get: Caris LeVert, 2023 second-round pick (from Houston)
The deal was struck less than 24 hours after Harden apparently delivered a farewell address of sorts, on Tuesday night after the Rockets’ lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
After Harden’s inflammatory comments about the Rockets, the team informed him that they did not want him at practice, earlier on Wednesday. Coach Stephen Silas said, “We felt it was best for James and best for the group for him not to come to practice.”
After remaining quiet through months of speculation that he is unhappy in Houston, the big man voiced his frustration after the Rockets’ second straight loss to the Lakers. “We’re just not good enough … I love this city. I literally have done everything that I can,” he said after the game. “I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed.”
Harden has been pushing for a trade to the, specifically, since he initially requested a trade during the offseason. He played with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma for the first three seasons of his career, and now that the duo has reunited, Brooklyn should have the NBA’s best offense, by far.
