The James Harden trade has left the Nets without a ton of depth.
The Brooklyn Nets pulled off the impossible, acquiring James Harden from the Houston Rockets in order to form one of the best “ big threes” in league history between Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving.
Over the last 10 seasons, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden rank in the top-four in usage rate in clutch time (min. 500 minutes).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 15, 2021
Clutch time is the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime, with the score within 5 points pic.twitter.com/81YULvfYoC
One of the unfortunate realities of that deal is the fact that most of Brooklyn’s depth, including the likes of Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, and Taurean Prince, was traded away. With three roster spots open and enough money to sign some quality pieces via Spencer Dinwiddie’s injury exception, look for free agents like these to end up in Brooklyn.
These three free agents could end up on the Nets after the James Harden deal.
3. Jamal Crawford
Crawford is no stranger to Brooklyn, as he had a cup of coffee with Jacque Vaughn’s bubble squad down at Disney World. While Crawford is now 40 years old and offers very little on the defensive end, the Nets just lost 40 points per game in this trade by trading away LeVert and company, and that has prompted a need for a reliable veteran swingman who can come off of the bench and hit some threes. With the approval of some Nets legends, Crawford could make a return trip to Brooklyn in order to provide them with some solid shooting.
Crawford is not going to put up numbers that will help him compete for a Sixth Man of the Year award. What he is going to do, however, is put the ball in the basket, thanks to both his expert shooting from long range and ability to glide to the basket. With two of the most ball-dominant players in the league playing alongside one of the league’s best scorers, Crawford is not going to demand a ton of touches, but he should have enough veteran moxie to drill a key three when Brooklyn’s momentum is waning.
You can count on one hand the number of players in this league who engender more respect than Crawford, and he should be able to hold together a Brooklyn team that likely will be learning how to play together when the playoffs roll around.