James Harden has recently said that he doesn’t like living in Brooklyn.
He isn’t the talk of the town or even the most popular player on his team. In Houston, Harden had the key to the city. He was the most popular athlete while he was there. The Rockets were making deep NBA playoff runs, Harden was averaging over 30 points per game, and the other players on the team were either his side kick or role players.
In Brooklyn, Kevin Durant owns the team. Kyrie Irving has been a distraction and would clearly frustrate any player on the team as he can only play in road games currently. Harden probably feels lost as the second or third option, depending on the night if Kyrie is playing.
The easiest, and most talked about deal, would be to ship him out right now for Ben Simmons to the Philadelphia 76ers. Harden would reunite with his old GM, Daryl Morey, and the Nets would get something for him instead of him leaving in free agency.
If that doesn’t happen by the trade deadline, what would be enough for him to stay? Would Brooklyn need to have a deep playoff run or win a championship? Would Kyrie need to fully commit or would Kevin Durant have to be moved? There is no clear path of what could fix this situation in Brooklyn with Harden and time will have to tell.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Harden_Beard_Drew-Goodman.jpg
