Brooklyn Nets: James Harden injury should force team to sign veteran point guard
By Mike Luciano
The Brooklyn Nets might’ve moved into first place in the Eastern Conference with a win against the Houston Rockets, but it came at a slight cost, as guard James Harden left the game in the third quarter after his hamstring tightened up.
While Kyrie Irving and the rest of the squad staged a comeback and pulled out the win, all eyes were fixated on Harden. While Steve Nash doesn’t think this injury is going to be a “long-term thing,” he said almost the exact same thing about Kevin Durant, who has missed more games than he’s played in due to his hamstring issue.
Sean Marks has been extremely aggressive in filling holes on this roster after solving Brooklyn’s size deficiency by signing Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge after their buyouts.
Marks’ mission is simple. Even if Harden doesn’t miss one second of game time, Brooklyn should add a veteran backup point guard to provide a bit of reprieve.
Steve Nash on James Harden's hamstring: "We're gonna monitor it. I don't have a lot to tell you. We feel confident it's not a long-term thing."
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) April 1, 2021
The Brooklyn Nets need a veteran point guard after the James Harden injury.
The Nets went from having no big men on the roster to a complete logjam at the position that will make it tough for Nash to figure out rotations. While Irving and Harden are as good a backcourt duo as there is in the league, the Nets haven’t filled out the roster with capable backups.
With Spencer Dinwiddie hurt and Caris LeVert an Indiana Pacer, the three most likely candidates to potentially fill in for Harden are Tyler Johnson, who has fallen far from his prime with the Miami Heat, Bruce Brown, who has been playing more of a wing role of late, and Landry Shamet, one of the league’s most disappointing players this season.
There might not be another player of Harden or Irving’s caliber on the market, but there are plenty of options. Veterans like Emmanuel Mudiay and Shabazz Napier, the latter of whom has experience in Brooklyn, could make sense, as they could help run the second unit while providing enough scoring to mask Harden’s potential absence for a game or two.
The Nets will inevitably truncate their playoff rotation, but if they want to make sure that they earn the top seed in the conference, they need to act quickly and get Harden some deputies that he can actually trust and lean on. This one signing might sound inconsequential, but it can make a significant difference if the Nets want to be cautious with Harden.
