Could the Nets re-enter the James Harden sweepstakes if Houston lowers its absurd asking price?
The Brooklyn Nets’ first preseason game of the year, which featured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sharing the floor for the first time since they inked max contracts with the franchise during the 2019 offseason, served as a needed distraction from the recurring trade rumors.
After all, being heavily linked with a superstar of James Harden’s caliber can have a damaging impact on the locker room, as players start speculating whether they could be included in a potential package, and nobody — especially a first-year head coach like Steve Nash — wants that.
Speaking of Harden, the last we heard on that front came from The Athletic, which reported that Houston wouldn’t even consider an offer from the Nets if it didn’t feature one of Durant or Irving.
To call that a delusional asking price would be an understatement, but is it possible that the Rockets abbreviate their demands if Harden continues to request a trade?
ESPN reporting with @RamonaShelburne: The arrival of John Wall has left All-NBA guard James Harden unmoved and uninterested in pursuing a new partnership and the franchise star continues to push the Houston Rockets for a trade. https://t.co/v1ldmebYqd
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 14, 2020
Harden passed his sixth consecutive COVID-test on Monday, which cleared him to practice and he responded by arriving in Houston for preseason camp. However, that doesn’t mean his ambitions of wanting to be traded to a new contender have wavered.
According to a new report from ESPN, Harden has no interest in forming a few superstar partnership with recently-acquired point guard John Wall, who apparently “expressed hope” that the former MVP would embrace the opportunity of playing alongside him. In other words, he still wants to be traded by the Rockets, who are quickly losing the leverage they appeared to establish just a few weeks ago.
The latest buzz indicates that Harden still has great respect for the franchise and will give 100% until the moment he’s traded. However, you have to think he’ll become less and less engaged as the season wears on and he remains in Houston.
Stephen Silas said he had a "good conversation" with James Harden. "You can ask him about his commitment and all that sort of thing. But we had a good conversation. He was locked in. He was asking good questions. He was bringing up good points. We had a good discussion."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 14, 2020
Assuming that the Rockets’ new front office regime would want to rid themselves of that distraction — or prevent it from materializing in the first place — they might just be convinced to adjust their initial asking price.
If that happens, the Nets could be convinced to circle back and reenter the sweepstakes. It still remains to be seen if GM Sean Marks is interested in unloading a shipment of assets and draft compensation to acquire another iso-centric superstar, but we wouldn’t write off the possibility of Harden ending up in Brooklyn just yet.
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