Harden will reportedly swap the Houston Rockets for the Brooklyn Nets in a mega trade, reuniting with Kevin Durant and teaming up with Kyrie Irving.
The Philadelphia 76ers were reportedly frontrunners to prise the former NBA MVP to the ‘City of Brotherly Love’, but Daryl Morey refused to part with franchise pillar Ben Simmons and others.
Instead, the Nets reportedly sent Caris LeVert – later traded to the Indiana Pacers as Victor Oladipo was dealt to the Rockets – and four first-round draft picks, plus four pick swaps, to Houston, in a deal also involving the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Nets also gave up Taurean Prince and talented center Jarrett Allen, who were sent to the Cavaliers, and Rockets-bound forward Rodions Kurucs.
It puts an end to a messy divorce between Harden and Rockets, after the disgruntled eight-time All-Star made no secret of his desire to depart as his frustrations boiled over post-game on Tuesday – sparking criticism from team-mates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.
Attention now turns to Brooklyn’s new super team and how Harden fits alongside Durant and Irving – if and when he returns from his personal absence – in first-year head coach Steve Nash’s quest to deliver a championship to the Nets.
Harden, who is eyeing a maiden NBA title, had called Houston home since 2012, guiding the Rockets to two Western Conference Finals and three semi-final appearances after his acquisition from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 31-year-old sharpshooter – team-mates with Durant at the Thunder between 2009 and 2012 – brings a high volume of three-point and free-throw attempts to Brooklyn, not to mention a dominant scorer, which the Nets have rarely had.
Harden attempted the most three-pointers in 2019-20 with 843, and he also topped the free-throw attempts category at 800. Prince topped Brooklyn’s 3PA list with 431, while Spencer Dinwiddie stepped to the line on 446 occasions.
In terms of individual seasons averaging 30.0-plus points, Harden boasts three seasons, while Durant has two. The Nets? 0. John Williamson’s high of 29.5 points per game in 1977-78 (in just 33 games) is the closest.
In each of the past three seasons heading into the 2020-21 campaign, Harden had earned the NBA scoring title. Durant has claimed four honours, compared to the Nets’ all-time haul of 0 after Keith Van Horn finished fifth in 1998-99. Harden and Durant have won seven of the past 11 scoring crowns.
Harden brings a resume with a lot of wins and postseason experience, as did Irving and Durant as former NBA champions with the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors respectively. The Nets have lost in the first round in back-to-back seasons, while not since 2003 have they featured in the Finals.
Harden boasts a team win percentage of 64.9 in regular-season games in which he has played, while he has amassed 128 playoff appearances.
The issue of Harden signing for the Nets is centred on possession and distribution, given he, Durant and Irving are ball carriers.
Looking at the highest usage percentage – an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor – since 2014-15 to get an idea of how the Nets could make it work with the trio, and Harden (second, 35.3 per cent), Durant (eighth, 29.6 per cent) and Irving (ninth, 29.4 per cent) rank in the top 10. The NBA average is 20.0 per cent.
In 2019-20, points scored by Harden and points scored off his assists averaged 52.4 per game. It followed 53.9 in 2018-19, 51.3 in 2017-18 and 56 the season previous.
That marked four successive seasons with 50-plus points per game created, tying Oscar Robertson (1963-64 to 1966-67) for the longest streak in NBA history.
Harden averaged 34.3 points, 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per regular-season game for the Rockets, who lost in the Western Conference semi-finals at Walt Disney World Resort, in 2019-20.
Kevin Durant said his previous experience playing alongside James Harden was “fun” ahead of the pair’s expected reunion at the Brooklyn Nets.
Harden was reportedly traded from the Houston Rockets to the Nets on Wednesday in a four-team deal also involving the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers.
Durant and Harden spent three seasons together with the Oklahoma City Thunder between 2009 and 2012 before the latter headed to Houston.
Asked about his previous experience playing with Harden, Durant told a news conference: “It was fun.”
Durant was unwilling to discuss the trade, which is yet to be confirmed, further.
The star had 26 points, six assists and three rebounds in the Nets’ 116-109 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
Durant became the second Nets player with 25-plus points in eight consecutive games, joining Bernard King (January 1979).
He played on back-to-back days for the first time since rupturing his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors.
“I wanted to see how my body felt this morning, how I felt after the game last night,” Durant said.
“I was just trying to monitor everything leading up until the game and obviously throughout the game and I felt good.
“Hopefully I keep building on it and as the season goes along I continue to keep getting stronger and get used to the game again, the schedule, the travel, everything, so this is a good step.”
The Nets improved to 7-6 with their win over the Knicks.
