James Harden is a Net and according to reports from Brooklyn, Houston – and Philadelphia, the Nets ‘willingness to give up so many choices in the draft and the Rockets’ desire for Victor Oladipo beat Brooklyn.
In addition, a report by Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that the 76ers thought they were receiving Harden, but the Rockets were so happy with the Nets’ offer that they didn’t even ask Philly to counterattack. Both Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle, reported as key players in a 76ers bid, “were even informed by their agents on Wednesday of an expected negotiation,” Pompeu reported.
Harden, an eight All-Star and ex-MVP and Sixth Man of the Year, was the centerpiece of the consummated negotiation on Wednesday afternoon. The Nets had to give up the first three rounds, the right to exchange four other first rounds, as well as Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and Rodions Kurucs in the deal, receiving only Harden in return. To make up for a problem with LeVert’s physical exam, the Nets had to add $ 2.6 million in cash to complete the switchover of four teams.
As has been repeatedly speculated, the Rockets were not interested in any of the young Nets players, but instead wanted Brooklyn to acquire a star for them … and add picks. Oladipo was that star.
The deal, according to all reports, came along quickly, with the Nets and 76ers being asked about offers not long before the deal closed. Sean Marks, in a conversation with Michael Grady on Friday, said the process that led to the deal only started “two to three weeks ago”, and then accelerated earlier in the week.
“We are always in contact with a variety of different teams,” Marks told the YES Network reporter. “I think on the James Harden front, we may have had a conversation two or three weeks ago. It really was nothing. It really sped up in the last 48 hours before trading, when conversations were going on, you know, very often. “
Rafael Stone, the Rockets GM, told reporters in Houston on Sunday that he liked the “flexibility” offered by the Nets.
“What is very exciting about this business is that it gives us flexibility,” said Stone. “In the NBA, choices, especially high ones, are the best currency. Everyone likes them. Everyone values them. So that was great. Organizationally, this gave us the flexibility to do different types of business as they came up, this year, next year, whatever.
“So, we got Victor Oladipo as part of that, along with Rodi (Kurucs) and Dante (Exum.) But Victor is a guy that makes us very excited. We think he’s very talented. This is not insignificant from our perspective. “
Judging by his comments, Stone anticipates that at some point in the future, the Nets will have to rebuild and that their picks and exchanges will become more valuable pieces. Specifically, Brooklyn gave up its first round choices in 2022, 2024 and 2026, as well as the right to change choices in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027. None of the choices are protected. The Rockets are also hosting the first round of Bucks in 2022 from the Cavaliers.
Marks admitted that including all of these choices was not an easy decision, but said the experience of the past five years – including Nets’ prospecting and development successes – has made him feel comfortable that the organization’s success can be “sustainable” in the long run.
“Regardless of whether we made that switch or not, the goal of this organization is to go out there and find players who fit your timeline of what you’re trying to do and what you’re trying to accomplish and help develop them and other things” said Marks.
“So, again, this is an incredible opportunity that lies ahead. It’s not like we don’t have any choices. When we entered here, there was simply none. Whereas we now have them. they’re just, you know, tied up in exchanges and so on, but there are a variety of different ways in which we can continue to build this and launch something that is sustainable for a long time. “
Oladipo, who was twice an All-Star and former Most Improved Player, was a big part of Stone’s assessment of the switch.
“I think it’s (almost) appropriate for him, for us, for everyone,” said Stone. “But your hope is that it will be a perfect marriage. He is an extremely talented player. He is a two-way player. It is played at an extraordinarily high level. He obviously suffered a significant injury. He returned. He’s already very, very good. In your own mind and in ours, there is still room to grow, which is really exciting.
“For him and for us, this is a very exciting time when we will see how it works and, hopefully, it will work like gangbusters and we will move on from there.”
However, the Rockets will have to sign Oladipo again this summer. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, after winning $ 21 million this season. The Rockets will have the Rights of the Birds of Oladipo.
Stone said Harden’s recent criticism of the Rockets was not a determining factor in trade negotiations. The Rockets GM, in its first season after a long term as the team’s general counsel, said Harden had spoken to the organization about a deal shortly after the Rockets were eliminated in the Orlando bubble and both Daryl Morey and Mike D ‘ Antoni stepped down as team president and head coach in the fall. Morey is now president of the 76ers, D’Antoni, an assistant to Steve Nash in the Nets. Harden, in his comments on Friday, said the same thing.
“As far as Houston is concerned, after the bubble and that loss, I wanted to reevaluate my career, the team and the direction the organization was taking,” said Harden. “You look up and down from the departure of the general manager to the departure of Mike D’Antoni to reevaluate our people to see if we had enough to compete with the best teams in this league.
“As time went by with the free agency and everything, I felt like we didn’t have a chance.”
Reports that Harden wanted a switch to Brooklyn emerged during the summer, when Nets Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined Harden and others in training at the Academy outside Los Angeles.
Harden, in his discussion with reporters two days ago, said that Durant and Irving’s presence in Brooklyn was part of his decision to seek an exchange for the Nets, as well as hiring D’Antoni to be the team’s offensive coordinator.
“It was a part of that,” said Harden of D’Antoni’s presence in Brooklyn. “Mike is an incredible coach and has been doing this for a long time. Mike is an important factor and being comfortable with him, with Kevin, meeting Kyrie and just those four pieces there made it easier. Being in Brooklyn, it was a no-brainer. “
Both Stone Sunday and Harden Friday said the relationship between the two sides is more friendly than has been reported and that the process worked as well as possible under the circumstances.
“James is a great player, period. And in the eight years he has been here, his work ethic has been incredible, ”Stone told reporters. “The flip side is that our goal remains the same. We are well positioned to develop something really special. I think the flexibility that we have organizationally is very interesting and, hopefully, we can do very, very good things with it ”.
Stone did not discuss competing offers from other teams nor did he identify which teams expressed interest in Harden. However, Pompeu, the Beat writer for the Sixers for a long time, suggested that there were conversations between the 76ers and the Rockets until the time Brooklyn and Houston closed the deal with Indiana and Cleveland.
Pompey wrote that the Philadelphia offer was centered on Simmons, Thybulle and two choices from the first round, but that Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers’ winning rookie, was not included and was not a drag, as others have written.
The two teams were heavily engaged in negotiations, but the Rockets essentially left the 76ers in trouble. Citing a “league source”, Pompeu wrote to the Rockets “he never called the Sixers for a counter offer before closing the successful four-team deal that sent Harden to Brooklyn.”
In fact, Pompeu reported, the Six thought the deal for Harden was closed, adding: “The team is not going to come out and say that, but Morey struggled to meet with MVP 2018 (Harden). Simmons and Thybulle were even informed by their agents on Wednesday of an expected exchange. “
Pompey also hinted that the 76ers were motivated to chase Harden after the Nets, with an insufficient team at the time, defeated Philly on January 7.
Marks, summing up his thinking about the exchange, said the decision was not an easy one, largely because of the players he had to resign. At the same time, the Nets GM said that getting Harden was a great “opportunity” because both “he wanted to be here” and his relationship with Durant “.
“So you have to weigh everything that those guys brought – the fiber they were a part of and the fingerprints that are everywhere here,” Marks told Grady. “So, you say, we have the opportunity here to add a franchise-level talent to James Harden, who wants to be here, who wants to be a part of this and who already has a pre-existing relationship with one of our stars.
“These are things, to be honest, that we couldn’t avoid and that have met our organizational goals of where we would like to be in the years to come.”
Marks also shouted at his owner.
“Joe Tsai has supported in all the ways and ways we are trying to build this. And this is great. To see your conviction to win, your conviction to do something that has never been done in Brooklyn before. I know he is excited to bring fans back to this building, Barclays and so on. To be honest, the neighborhood deserves it. “