The Rockets were in “deep conversations” with both the Nets and Sixers today regarding a James Harden deal before deciding to accept Brooklyn’s offer, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link). He adds that both teams made “very strong offers,” with Philadelphia willing to give up Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle, along with draft compensation.
However, the opportunity to pair Harden with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving prompted the Nets to agree to a package loaded with future draft picks. Houston will receive three first-round selections and four pick swaps from Brooklyn over the next seven years (plus a Bucks first-rounder via Cleveland), with all the picks being unprotected. The deal also cost the Nets Caris LeVert, who was subsequently shipped to Indiana, and Jarrett Allen, who went to Cleveland.
The new Big Three in Brooklyn has been brewing for a while, Charania adds. He says Harden, Irving and Durant met in Los Angeles about a month and a half ago and discussed the possibility of teaming up.
There’s more on today’s blockbuster deal:
- Simmons was “pretty ecstatic” that he wasn’t traded to Houston, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Simmons thinks the Sixers are capable of winning a title, and coach Doc Rivers is a huge believer in Simmons’ talent.
- Harden knew that trade talks had escalated when he made post-game comments Tuesday night indicating that the situation in Houston couldn’t be fixed, states ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link). Woj adds that the uncertainty surrounding Irving contributed to the Nets’ urgency to get a deal done, and the trade was made with an eye on convincing Durant to re-sign after his current contract expires.
- The Celtics weren’t willing to part with Jaylen Brown to obtain Harden, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (video link from NBC Sports Boston). With young stars in Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics are on a different timetable than the Nets, Mannix adds.
- Because the trade hasn’t been finalized, Nets coach Steve Nash couldn’t comment on it in his pre-game session with reporters, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN. However, Nash did discuss the challenge of trying to blend multiple star players. “It’s about trying to be greater than the sum of your parts,” he said. “That doesn’t change, no matter what your team looks like.”
- Handing out grades on the deal, Kevin Pelton of ESPN gives the Nets a D, noting that Brooklyn paid a steep price to get Harden and will regress defensively with the loss of Allen. Pelton gives the Rockets an A-minus for finding their way out of a difficult situation and loading up on draft picks, while the Pacers get a B-plus. The Cavaliers get a C, with Pelton questioning the cost (a first-round pick and future salary) for Allen, who will require a significant raise later this year.
Maybe Im optimistic but I see it
Rockets- A-
Indy-A+
Cle-C+
BRK-Tbd
Bro Cleveland was a steal… Exum and a bucks first for a future Center
Indy I would give an B+ because it’s the same position and would fit the same role but just under contract for longer
Rockets I would give B cus the guy Oladipo and a bunch of picks but like 0 strong young players
Brooklyn I would give a B+ cus they had to do something to take their team to the next level… but yes I do agree with TBD cus it does depend on how the play together
I agree. Exum is just a name at this point and with where the Bucks will draft the idea of getting Allen for the pick is great value. All they did was benefit and can now trade their other centers.
I think Indy made out the best in the trade…they will have gotten the cheapest contract amongst all involved….Allen will get a new deal in offseason
Just wish Allen was locked up longer- Yes they’ll have first dibs but with a weak fa class and a lotta cap avail they might have to match a pretty big offer and at that point its not a value –
If he had Laverts years/contract locked up Id give them an A+ as well. If they re – up Allen and he plays well then yes this has way better potential than C+
Yesterday
I talked about a proven star and 5 or 7 future Firsts for Harden
It’s about right
On hoopsrumors
I am the only one that was talking about 7 future first round picks for Harden
Should someone tell him?
Might only be 4 big guy
i’ll give nets a B+ cuz they gave away all their stretch fours and bigs, well only green, perry, and claton are left to back up KD and Deandre. a two way 4 and a former draft pick whos still in the g league cuz he cant find a spot in the nba. green is ok but he lacks defense. they should take a look at labrisserie as a potential backup to jordan or even a starter. cuz jordan isnt a reliable big on offense and we just lost our best defender, jarrett allen.
CLE still a C+?— The purpose of “future salary” is to pay for a talent like Jarrett Allen. Better than paying for Drummond! Kvn Pelton is a financial guy, maybe needs reminded about what salaries are for.
There is no indication that Drummond doesn’t want to move on to a contending team. There is no indication otherwise either, except a stat-padding style of play.
The r1 lost will likely be low.
i agree with some of the others here – Philly won the trade by not getting Harden
Rockets are second due to addition via subtraction. They’re not gonna be a contender but now they have draft picks again and they’ll have a little bit of cap space next season, assuming Oladipo becomes a free agent.
It also frees them up to trade Simmons for Beal if they really feel the need to trade him.
How the cavs get a ‘c’? They get their potentional C of future in Allen, who is really good and underrated.
Yes they have too many centers already but they can move them now if anyone wants them.
This^. Wish I could know what is going through Pelton’s head. Can’t find out though because I don’t want to pay for ESPN+.
A lot of writers I saw gave Cavs an A.
Why did the cavs receive a C? They got their center of the future and don’t have to Overpay Drummond. Also prince is a solid wing piece. IMO cavs should get a B.
Haha it’s not an official rating if you want to give them a B give them a B.
Agreed @Luckylefty2. Yeah we gave up a defensive PG in Exum and a first rounder in 2022, but Exum is offense-deficient and injury-prone and the 2022 pick is bound to be late in the first round since it the Bucks.
Excited to get rid of Andre and his atrocious offense and trade him in for Allen, a defensive equivalent center that knows and stays in his offensive role. Prince doesn’t have great the highest shooting % but he is solid defensively too.
I’m really biased but I give Cavs A+ lol
not really. prince is longer da solid 3 and D wing he used to be back in atlanta. da nets could have gotten exum and drummond cuz yk cuz their lack of defense due to trading allen. at least drummond shoots better than deandre whos mostly averages 4 pts/10rebs pergame and idk bout his defense.
That paragraph gets an F for spelling and logic: Drummond vs Jordan was never an issue; the Nets wanted to pay for Harden.
If the Nets get a chip, then it’s worth it. Houston did as well as they could considering and their new squad will win a bunch of games (if they don’t blow it up). I honestly hope the Nets do ball out. I am sick of knowing who the champ is going to be before the season even starts.
ESPN PER comparison
Oladipo 16.6
Ben Simmons 15.2
Jaylen Brown 24.4
Nets have a much better offer than 76ers
Maxey is not in the package
Nets A-
Rockets A-
Pacers A-
Cavs A-
It seems to me that Rockets owner is cheap by trading Allen, which means Rockets are not planning to offer overpaid contract to Allen in August
by trading allen da rockets r going back to adapting to boogie’s 29% shooting lol
Boogie is shooting over 35% from three this season.
i mean his shooting from da field.
Smart move by the sixers. They need to target Beal over Harden. Sometimes u win when u lose.
Why would the Wizards trade Beal when they’re desperate to rid themselves of Westbrook? Or at least they will be much sooner than people think.
This trade is wild. No way to tell who won it until the dust settles and we see what comes of everything in a year or two
It’s absolutely irresponsible to say the 76ers were willing to deal Simmons because that’s false. All the Simmons talk was coming from Houston. PHI never included Simmons in any harden package as that would make their team worse.
According to Shams
75ers did offer Ben Simmons
So your sources are better than Shams and Woj?
Better question is… Have ever Shams & Woj been right?
Didn’t think so, right?
Yes? Is this some sort of trick question?
just ignore him. all he does is troll on every poster and insult ppl for no reason
I’m glad the Celtics didn’t trade for him- especially giving up Brown. It’ll be interesting to see a) what Brooklyn’s chemistry is and b) how their defense is.
A. Not Good
B. Awful
Regardless don’t see the Nets winning. Harden and Irving bad attitudes. Just going give Nash a headache.
How about trading Kyrie for Westbrook now.
The thought of Boston trading a package around Brown for Harden is hilarious.
I am not saying Brown is better than Harden, but he certainly fits what Boston is trying to do better than Harden.
Both are great offers. We don’t know the actual draft compensation from Philly, but have to imagine it wasn’t too much.
Bottom line: Houston took the offer that got them more cap future flexibility and future assets that could possibly get them high selections once KD, JH and Kyrie are gone from Brooklyn. Hopefully if works out for them.
da nets should have gotten drummond
hopefully bruce brown can help the defense hold down opposing scorers hopefully……..
ok hol up. think y’all can give me a list of players on da market they can pickup with their valuable three open roster spots??????
^
Cavs: A — Allen is a truly elite defender, can defend 1-5 and the rim.
Pacers: B — LeVert is just a better asset than VO.
Rockets: C — Yield could end up being “picks only” (if VO doesn’t stick), and none of them right now project to be in the lottery.
Nets: D — They fixed something that wasn’t broke (star level offensive firepower) and used all their trade capital to do it.
There’s a good chance that the Nets will be in the lottery sooner rather than later. KD is 32 and coming off a major injury. Harden is 31 and will be carrying the team in a couple of years. While even though Kyrie will be just 29 in a couple of months he is the one factor that is preventing the Nets from succeeding. Unless they can find a way to get rid of Irving (trade him for Westbrook?), this team won’t be good for much longer.
still got a promising player in dinwiddie. now that they got harden wuts dinwiddies’s roile then? pretty much take on the role of levert by leading da bench prob unless they dont wanna start harris at da 3. da main issue now is defense. they gave away their best defender in allen. plus i dont get why they didnt trade shamet. mans shooting bricks compared to saddiq bey in detroit. could have swapped him and claxton for caboclo and exum tho for defense.
The Nets picks in 25, 26, & 27 will probably be very good. Harden and Durant will both be in their late 30s by that point and probably won’t even be with the Nets anymore. And it’s not like the Nets will be able to draft quality replacements for them. The Rockets drafts in those years will probably look a lot like the Celtics drafts from a couple years back.
Yes, that possibility (probability) of granting a windfall to the Rockets is why I gave the Nets a D. Without 26 and 27 (1 pick/1 swap), I would have given them a higher grade.
But a possibility of a windfall can’t save this deal from the Rockets standpoint (overall, after not retaining Allen and LeVert), because they didn’t get a controllable young player with star potential (or, IMO, got two and threw them away for assets that don’t figure to yield much). OKC wouldn’t do the PG13 deal without SGA. Basically, and its not a new idea, you should get at least one sure thing when trading a superstar.
Fair point, but LeVert has his own spotted injury history and Allen is a good prospect, but required taking Prince’s big salary with him. Right now, Oladipo is better than both. If he meshes with Wall, the Rockets could still easily be a playoff team. They are in 14th place right now, but that is still only 2 games out of 6th place. And if Oladipo signs an extension, that is far better for the Rockets than gambling on LeVert or Allen becoming a star. Granted those are big ifs, but LeVert and Allen both come with their own big ifs.
The VO that was better than both hasn’t been seen for awhile. If he reappears, and they resign him, then that’s arguably a better result than Allen and LeVert for about the same price combined, but only arguable. I doubt that happens, or it’s even part of the Rockets’ plan, and if it is, that’s its what VO will want. I think best case is they get more picks, but not great ones.
exactly. lmao i might be a nets fan soon cuz my raptors are indeed overrated
Pelton’s grades are all wrong:
Indiana killed it – they turned a moody scoring guard with question marks into a good young player on a good contract. For a team that can’t afford to spend too much on non-productive players, this deal was a home run. I think if they hadn’t lucked into this, they’d had watched Oladipo leave for nothing this summer.
Cleveland also killed it – they gave up a late 1st for an up-and-coming big man. He might not ever be more than a decent starter, but then again he might be even better. Hard to imagine he’ll ever be less than a rotation player.
Houston did OK, but they waited WAY to long to make a deal that was probably on the table 2 months ago. It was rumored that Houston could have had Dinwiddie, LaVert, and Allen plus picks back when this whole thing got started.
By waiting, Houston crippled the start of their own season.
Brooklyn gave up too much, and the basketball fit is questionable. Houston was on the ropes, Harden was a risk to sit out the season, and Brooklyn bailed them out with picks and pick swaps…why? Philly was the only other option on the table, and they didn’t have picks to give. Simmons is better than any of the guys Brooklyn has, but how much better? And does esteemed scout and basketball expert Tilman Fertitta (sarcasm) really want Simmons? I mean, if he did, he’d have made the rumored deal that was on the table months ago, right?
Brooklyn was scared, they made a wild move, and if it doesn’t work out (spoiler alert – it probably won’t work out), they gave up everything for a guy that can’t play with Kyrie.
So the grades are A++, A, B, and D-
A couple of issues.
LeVert has as big an injury history as Oladipo and has not yet reached Oladipo’s peak. It’s a good gamble for the Pacers, but far from an A++.
As far as Cleveland goes, they didn’t get Allen for the Milwaukee pick, they got Allen for taking on Taurean Prince’s salary. They still did good, but it’s not they got him for nothing.
Houston could have had those three from Brooklyn this time, but they didn’t want them. Just because some people see that trio as desirable, doesn’t mean everyone shares the opinion. I mentioned LeVert’s injury history. Allen could be great, but he could easily be the next overpaid big man like Bismack Biyombo that just slows down an offense and cripples the cap. Dinwiddie is out for the year with a potential career altering injury. There is a reason none of those guys were lottery picks, none of theoir ceilings are really THAT high. In my opinion, they looked better than they are because they were on a Nets team that was devoid of real stars.
All that being said, I agree 1000% with your take on Brooklyn. This is the KG/Pierce trade 2.0 and may even be worse because at least with that one you weren’t mortgaging your future for just one player. If James Harden has an injury, Brooklyn is going to non-competitive for the next decade.
I like your perspectives except:
Levert also has a solo style different from Brogdon’s. Of course Dipo can be solo too, but it worked when it worked, a couple season ago. To compare, Utah does well when Clarkson comes in.
Prince is not horrible, and right now, the Cavs have a lot of injuries, so they could use him.
Rockets: A-
Cavaliers: C-
Pacers: A+
Nets: B-
Rockets got a load of picks and a former all star which will actually make them better considering how Harden played for the Rockets this season.
They would’ve been better off to keep LeVert but if Oladipo can return to full fitness then it’ll be alright.
Cavs I don’t understand why they joined the deal. They gave up a first and an expiring deal for Allen, why? How they have to decide between Allen or Drummond and both on expiring deals.
Pacers did excellent to get LeVert for an expiring Oladipo and also a pick…
Nets gave up a lot of picks and young talent for Harden who is an excellent player but who’s it going to work? 3 ball dominate players, 3 soft personalities, 3 players with huge egos.. they need atleast 1 title for it to be worth it
Cavs have to decide between talents, darn. Well the two oldest would probably rather be elsewhere, so it won’t be hard.
Allen could make an allstar out of Garland, IMO
To get down to 15 players the Rockets will likely cut Chris Clemons and eat his $1.5M salary, then they should trade Kurucs for a 2nd round pick (or best offer) which will free up another roster spot for home-town favorite Gerald Green.
Three biggest malcontents on the same team. I’m sure this will go well….. Kyrie gone by the trade deadline?
Man, how low is the IQ of people commenting here?
Scary thought, right?
HOU only got four 1st rounders, how some guys can’t read & seem to understand that they got 8? SMH!!!
Many here seems to keep on pushing for a Kyrie trade… I mean no offense but KD is a good guy, but really he mustn’t care about BRK or any of the other 29 teams in the league, he didn’t go to BRK ’cause it was his dream… he went ’cause wanted to play with Kyrie.
Dudes it ain’t complicated, you trade Kyrie & how long do you think it will take for KD to request a trade?
I wish y’all could spend a couple seconds thinking before y’all start spewing your usual hatred for the guys that run the show!
dude remeber u showed us how hating is wrong by hating lmao
says da dude who gets exasperated every time ppl contradict u.
Exasperated is a good word. Why do you keep on with the fakey slang stuff? And the Brooklyn picture?
ElDon is often at odds with who the mob wants to lynch! Enthusiasm isn’t bad per se. I dislike lies & bad logic.
In this case KD would tend to drift mentally without KI, so that would need to be considered. I would assume KD is quite the daydreamer. But I doubt KI will get traded this year… the addition of Harden was something KI was working for, so he is motivated to see it through. Indeed I suspect his time off is related to pressuring GM Marks to trigger the deal.
Nets paid a big price. I’m surprised they couldn’t just wait out Rockets. They had no choice but to move him., really. They must of got played a little IMO. In 4-5 yrs those picks could be high picks. Still Rockets are now able to rebuild. Next yrs draft in 1st rd is deep. Oladipo healthy and Wall can make a nice combo. For Houston the future looks better. And can still be competitive while rebuilding. It’s amazing that a team is banking on four players who have had serious injury history. Exum, Cousins, Wall, Oladipo it’s a new day, I guess. Don’t think I’ve ever seen this. I’m happy for the players. Nets still need to pickup some D players. K Faried is still out there. Never understood why Rockets let him go. He played great for them in the short time. Very good defensive player and rebounder. Nets can also move Dinwiddie for help. I know Knicks would take him.
true. but nets negoiated a buyout with him two years ago just i think idk. faried wasn’t satisfied with da role he had with da nets so im not sure da nets wanna reunite with him. he only played 12 games with da nets before they let him go. if they trade dinwiddie to da knicks wut will they take back in exchange??? da nets might not want frank, smith jr, and payton. da nets could trade shamet snce dinwiddies a better offensive player than him and da only thing shamet does well is shoot threes but lately hes been shooting bricks unless u count da nice 13 pt game he had against ur knicks. dont think knicks want him cuz they;’re loaded with shooters in rivers, barrett, burks, and ofc quickley.
but still i think if da nets pickup K faried and give him more mins than jeff green, then he will be a fit. maybe bring back shumpert too for more defense. hes not da proficient shooter he used to be back with da knicks and cavs but still his defense is still excellent. yk knicks could take a look at napier or even yogi ferrell for more playmaking and defense. ferrell looked solid in his lone game with da cavs before da surprise harden trade got him and maker cut.
In the long term, trading less draft capital for a guy under contract at a lower dollar figure that only requires matching with Green, Scott, Porier, etc.. is better. So the Sixers still have viable trade options out there and they won’t need to deal Harris who is shooting 10% better than last year, so no reason to divulge assets and deal him if he continues at this level.
LaVine is my top target at this point and Hield is playing poor so maybe the ask becomes less? If the Wolves look to deal Beasley or Culver I’m in on that, off court issues aside. If the Cavs make any of their guards available I’m in on that. If all I can do is upgrade for the playoffs, then Fournier and Oladipo become the focus. Prefer to get guys on at least a 2 year deal. Anyone under 30M/year is a viable target tho.
u guys already got seth and maxey so wuts da worry. wait… u mean green right? could swap him to chicago along with ferguson and thubylle for lavine
Ideally they need a 3, but there’s really no one available that moves the needle and plays the 3.
nest can just fill out their remaining spots with role players like shumpert for defense, faried for rebounding and interior scoring in order to take da workload off KD a little, and ofc we could add a young center who could shoot and rim protect better than denadre like labrisserie, caboclo(but hes kind of undersized), or even maker(but his defense is bad)