Nets acquire
Harden from
Rockets
BY JOE PANTORNO
The Brooklyn Nets have acquired
All-Star guard James
Harden in a trade with the
Houston Rockets per multiple
reports in a three-team trade.
In return, the Rockets will
be receiving all four of the
Nets’ future fi rst-round draft
picks and four draft swaps
along with Caris LeVert, Dante
Exum, and Rodions Kurucs
while the Cleveland Cavaliers
will get Taurean Prince and
Jarrett Allen.
LeVert was promptly traded
from the Rockets to the Indiana
Pacers for another package,
per The Athletic’s Shams
Charania.
The deal transpired quickly
after initial reports on Wednesday
afternoon that the Rockets
were “sifting through offers”
from the Nets and the 76ers to
acquire the eight-time All-Star
and three-time-defending NBA
scoring champion.
Harden and the Nets had
been linked in trade talks for
months — the 31-year-old listing
COURIER L 4 IFE, JANUARY 15-21, 2021
Brooklyn as a preferred
trade destination back in November.
Nine games into the season,
though, it was clear that
Harden had enough of the
Rockets. Following a loss to the
Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday
night that dropped them to
3-6 on the season, the star went
scorched earth the team he’s
spent the last nine years with.
“We’re just not good enough.
Chemistry, talent-wise, everything,”
he said. “I love this city.
I literally have done everything
that I can. The situation
is crazy, it’s something that I
don’t think can be fi xed. So,
yeah. Thanks.”
Harden did not show up to
Rockets practice on Wednesday
where he would have been
kept away from the team until
a trade is made, per ESPN’s
Adrian Wojnarowski.
An acquisition of Harden
could not come at a better
time for Brooklyn, though
questions about team chemistry
on the fl oor in the locker
room will immediately arrive
considering how things
have deteriorated down in
Houston and with the current
state of the Nets.
Kyrie Irving remains out
due to personal reasons having
missed the last fi ve games
when including Wednesday
night’s tilt against the Knicks.
He was caught on social media
at a family gathering in West
Orange, New Jersey earlier this
week without a mask, which is
in direct violation of the NBA’s
COVID protocols.
The Nets have provided
no specifi cs surrounding Irving’s
absence and when
asked if the 28-year-old will
play at all this season, head
coach Steve Nash simply answered,
“sure.” Not exactly a
confi dence-inspiring answer
for a team that has banked so
much on a superstar duo of Irving
and Kevin Durant.
Harden reunites with Durant
in Brooklyn after the two
spent three seasons as teammates
with the Oklahoma
City Thunder. He will take a
considerable amount of pressure
off Durant’s plate to turn
the Nets organization around
if Irving continues to miss
games while Spencer Dinwiddie
— the team’s third-best
player — is out for the season
with a partially torn ACL.
Should Irving return
sooner rather than later,
though, the Nets suddenly
have one of the most imposing
trios in all the NBA. Harden is
under contract for two more
seasons with a player option
for the 2022-23 campaign.
Houston Rockets guard James Harden dribbles the ball by Indiana Pacers
guard Victor Oladipo. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
1 2 3 4 5
NYC
RANKED
CHOICE
VOTING
RANKED-CHOICE VOTING MORE
CHOICE
AT THE POLLS
In 2021, the city of New York will
use Ranked-Choice Voting for all
NYC primaries and special elections.
UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTION
February 2, 2021 - Queens City Council District 24
Early Voting – January 23 - 31
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
• You can still vote for just one candidate and leave the
other columns blank
• You can only choose one candidate for each column
• You cannot rank the same candidate more than once
Visit VOTE.NYC or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC
early voting hours and learn more about Ranked-Choice Voting
You can rank