SUMMARY
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Frustrated All-Star James Harden is officially out of Houston and will be introduced Thursday, January 14 (Friday, January 15, Philippine time) as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
“Adding an All-NBA player such as James to our roster better positions our team to compete against the league’s best,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a team statement Thursday morning. “James is one of the most prolific scorers and playmakers in our game, and we are thrilled to bring his special talents to Brooklyn.”
The Nets have added Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Harden in the past two years, bringing significant star power to Barclays Center.
In the four-team deal, the Houston Rockets received guard Victor Oladipo from the Indiana Pacers, guard Dante Exum from the Cleveland Cavaliers, forward Rodions Kurucs of the Nets, three first-round draft picks from the Nets, one unprotected 2022 first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers (via the Milwaukee Bucks) and the right to swap four first-round picks with the Nets.
Guard Caris LeVert and a second-round pick will go from the Nets to the Pacers (via Houston in the Oladipo deal), and center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince go from Brooklyn to the Cavaliers with Cleveland sending a 2024 second-round pick to the Nets.
The first-round picks Houston received from the Nets are in 2022, 2024 and 2026. The swaps are in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027. (READ: How all 4 teams won in the James Harden trade)
“While we are excited to welcome James and his family to the Nets, we also want to thank the players who are departing,” Marks said. “Caris, Jarrett, Rodions and Taurean were instrumental to the team’s success and have made an enormous impact on our organization. It has been a pleasure watching them grow both as players and as people and they will always be part of our Nets family. We wish each of them and their families all the best in the future.”
Harden, 31, held out of training camp and told the Rockets he wanted a trade. He said he was frustrated by the direction of the team without team president Daryl Morey and head coach Mike D’Antoni, who left the franchise following the 2020 playoffs held in the bubble near Orlando.
D’Antoni is an assistant to first-year head coach Steve Nash with the Nets. Harden also reunites with Durant, his teammate for his first 3 NBA seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. (READ: Assessing James Harden’s fit with the Brooklyn Nets)
Harden has led the NBA in scoring in each of the past 3 seasons with averages of 30.4, 36.1 and 34.3 points.
The timing of the deal could boost the Nets’ offense with Irving out five consecutive games due to personal reasons. – Rappler.com
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