It remains to be seen whether the Houston Rockets will acquiesce to James Harden’s trade request any time soon, but if they do, one potential landing spot is the Brooklyn Nets. Harden reportedly wants to go to Brooklyn, where he would theoretically team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and create one heck of an offensive juggernaut.
A new report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, though, indicates that it might be hard for that to come to fruition. Charania reports that the Rockets — which have been clear that they want a whole lot back for Harden — aren’t particularly interested in a lot of what the Nets would offer up. The thing that would change that, though, is if they include one of their two stars.
The Rockets don’t have an urgency to move Harden and the franchise expects a mammoth package for the six-time All-NBA first team performer: along the lines of a young star and tremendous draft assets. Sources said the Rockets have no interest in a Nets offer, unless it would include either Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving.
Now, this would almost certainly be a non-starter from Brooklyn’s point of view, because breaking up the Durant-Irving pairing before the former ever got a chance to take the floor seems completely out of the realm of possibility. This does, however, hammer home that Houston is negotiating from a place of strength for now, as Harden is under contract for two more years and they are under no obligation to make a move. Whether this changes as the year begins and the market for his services does something the Rockets don’t expect is one thing, but if they are steadfast that a deal centered around guys like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen and a whole lot of picks isn’t enough, it seems hard to imagine that Harden will get to Brooklyn via a trade between the two teams.