As the offseason heats up and with the NBA’s moratorium ending on Monday, Houston Rockets star James Harden reportedly has the Brooklyn Nets at the top of his list of preferred destinations if dealt to a new team. Should Harden try to pull the plug and form a new superteam in Brooklyn? The Open Floor podcast debates.
(Listen to the latest Open Floor podcast here. The following transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Ben Golliver: What do you think all of this means for James Harden? Should he do what I have been encouraging him to do and get in front of all this drama and try to get himself traded before the start of the season? He can just leave the mess for somebody else. Or should he try to hang on post-Westbrook and a supporting cast that might look different next season? There are going to be a lot of new faces around him. How much pressure would you apply if you was Harden and if you did want out, where would you go?
Michael Pina: If I am Harden, I guess I am fine where I am. I am making a ton of money and I get to play basketball with the ball in my hands and not worry about any individual sacrifices. I am still confident enough in my own abilities to lift anyone around me to have my team in championship contention—whether or not that is realistic is another question. I don’t think it is the right time yet for him to ask out of Houston. I think that can happen over the next 16 months, but right now I think it is a little too soon for him to get super aggressive and sound the alarm that he doesn’t want to play there anymore.
Golliver: I think that would be a mistake. If I was him, do you know where I would want to go?
Pina: Philadelphia?
Golliver: What about the Brooklyn Nets? What about a big three with his old buddy Kevin Durant? You would have three legit NBA All-Stars and the best big three in the league if you put those guys together. The Nets have all sorts of trade pieces that we have discussed from Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, draft picks and all that stuff, you can put together a really nice return package for James Harden. Houston needs to hit the reset button. They are not going to get a lot for Russell Westbrook but what if they get all of the Nets’ assets and whatever they can get for Westbrook and they start from scratch? What do you think about my devious plan? It’s a team in Brooklyn that makes everyone roll their eyes and maybe the villains of the entire league. You get them out there in the black jerseys and wearing the black hats. You see where I am going with this.
Pina: I think it is fascinating for sure.
Golliver: It should happen! Come on, Michael.
Pina: It’s fascinating and it would be fun to watch for like a month or two. I think you are underestimating how disruptive Kyrie Irving can be. He is there obvious third best player and that’s not going to work out for him.
Golliver: Here is where it gets more devious because I am not underestimating that factor. I have accurately estimated this the whole way. This is my bridge solution for a Kyrie Irving trade from Brooklyn. Just let it play out until the deadline and say ‘hey look, James is better than Kyrie and then you flip Kyrie and now you have Kevin Durant who is a much better upgrade than the Kyrie Irving experience. What do you think?
Pina: I have been trying to manufacture fake Kyrie Irving trades ever since he left the Boston Celtics and signed with Brooklyn. I want them to reach their ceiling with KD and I don’t think they can do with Kyrie there. This is diabolic. Kyrie would not go quietly as I would say and I don’t know which team he would be shipped to but I imagine the suitors are very similar to the teams we just discussed for Russell Westbrook. I don’t think he would be super pumped about that.
Golliver: All I am trying to say is that don’t let Kyrie stand in the way of trading for James Harden. Harden is a much better player and he’s got the relationship with KD. Those two guys together can absolutely be phenomenal especially in the Eastern Conference and then you worry about the rest of it later.
