James Harden will make his Nets debut in the near future.
The Brooklyn Nets shook the foundation of the NBA to its core this week, acquiring superstar scorer James Harden in a deal that sent Caris LeVert to the Indiana Pacers, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and control of the Nets’ draft to the Houston Rockets.
With Harden ready to pair up with Kevin Durant and the absent Kyrie Irving, his Brooklyn debut is just days away.
Now that all the physicals have been passed and the trade has been made official, Harden’s first game in Brooklyn black and white could come this Saturday against the Orlando Magic. The Nets will follow this game up with a primetime showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks before taking on Allen, Prince, and Cleveland in two consecutive games against their old running mates.
James Harden could take the Nets to the next level.
While the messy end to his time in Houston, epitomized by some subpar play on the court, has tarnished the image of The Beard in some minds, Harden was the leading scorer in the NBA for the last three seasons, and adding him to a team that already features Durant and Irving makes Brooklyn the league’s best offense.
Harden will get plenty of support around him, as he will join up with a close friend in Durant and a coach in Mike D’Antoni who made him into the record-setting scorer he became in Houston.
There are plenty of reasons to be a bit nervous about this deal, as the Nets now lack depth at pretty much every position and will have to figure out how to split shots between their three superstars, but this is an unprecedented assemblage of offensive talent, and it has the potential to bring the Nets their first title ever.
Brooklyn Nets: Pros and Cons of franchise-altering James Harden trade
The Brooklyn Nets have assembled the greatest Big Three in NBA history with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden. So what next?