Nets must listen to James Harden trade offers amid embarrassing losing skid
The Brooklyn Nets aren’t in a good position. The 112-101 result versus Sacramento solidified Brooklyn’s sixth-straight loss. The Nets are 2-7 since Kevin Durant went down with a sprained MCL and although their past three games have been on the road, the Kyrie Irving and James Harden duo hasn’t been enough.
The losing skid was supposed to be snapped on Tuesday night, right? The Kings entered the game with an 18-34 record and had lost seven-straight games of their own. And notoriously, Brooklyn’s a better team on the road so how did it turn into a disaster?
The Nets can be given a pass for losing the first two games of their road trip against the best teams in the West but Sacramento? There’s no excuse for a double-digits loss.
What went wrong? Irving didn’t have his best game and finished with 14 points (5-of-15), three rebounds, and one assist.
Let’s check in on Harden. He had 12 assists and seven rebounds but scored four points (2-of-11 from the field, 0-of-5 from the 3-point line) and had six turnovers.
The Nets are 0-5 since the James Harden report dropped last week. https://t.co/EzrOZW9Rdd
— Billy Reinhardt (@BillyReinhardt) February 3, 2022
The Brooklyn Nets need to listen to trade offers for James Harden.
Brooklyn isn’t trending in the right direction. Yes, the team has been hit with injuries and was without three of their top players against the Kings (Durant, Joe Harris, and LaMarcus Aldridge) but they still had more than enough to secure a victory.
There’s officially one week left until the 2022 trade deadline and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported last week that the Nets won’t be listening to trade offers for Harden. However, the front office should rethink that decision.
The sky isn’t falling, yet. Still, Harden’s been a shell of his former self. To have a shot at winning, Brooklyn needs to have either Durant or Irving on the court at all times. Sure, Harden’s had his moments but his output has been far too inconsistent.
Harden seemed completely out of it on Tuesday. He appeared to be disinterested.
He sat out last week with a hamstring tightness (that he said is no longer bothering him) and missed the game against the Warriors last Saturday with a right-hand sprain. Could that be the problem?
In his return on Tuesday in Phoenix, he finished with 22 points (6-of-19), 10 assists, five rebounds, and four turnovers.
We’re not sure how that translated into his worst outing of the season.
James Harden: "There's no concern. We don't have our entire team, and this is happening to us."
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) February 3, 2022
There is a concern. When healthy, the Nets are without a doubt the best team in the league. If they can’t find a way to win with Irving and Harden in the starting lineup against one of the worst teams in the NBA, that’s an issue.
It seems like a good time for Daryl Morey and Philadelphia to pick up the phone and make a call to Brooklyn. As of last week, the Sixers hadn’t made a trade offer to the Nets but that could (and should) change. Making and listening to an offer won’t hurt anything.
Either way, something has to change for Brooklyn. The lackluster level of effort that’s been on display is going to have to turnaround if the Nets want to win their first title in franchise history. There are still over two months left until the playoffs begin but time is ticking.
