Harden Lands in Brooklyn

 

James Ha rden was finally traded on Wednesday from the Houston Rockets in 4 team trade between the Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Indiana Pacers. The trade saw Harden and a 2nd round pick go to Brooklyn with Houston getting 4 first round picks and 4 unprotected pick swaps, in addition to several players including Pacer star Victor Oladipo. The Nets saw key role players in Caris LeVert go the Pacers; also they sent  Jarret Allen, and Taurean Princeto the Cavaliers. With the trade being made official on Friday the question now becomes can the Brooklyn Nets with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden win a championship this year and ultimately within the next 3 years.

The biggest thing that these 3-star players have to realize is that sacrifices have to be made in order to accomplish their ultimate goal of winning a championship. Harden and Durant played with each other earlier in their careers with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Harden has become a more accomplished player since that time 8 years ago. I believe Harden can adjust his game to involve Irving and Durant due to the fact he has led the league in assist in addition to scoring as well within the last 3 years. The ultimate wild card will be Irving as he has a very unpredictable personality and has shown that he cannot be trusted to be locked in mentally when the Nets need him. I see the Nets vying as a representative of the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals this season.

 

My prediction is for the first season they will fall short of reaching the NBA Finals. This has to do with it likely being growing pains playing together for the 3 Nets superstars. Also, I expect teams such as the Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks to be able to dominant on the inside with the lack of  defense especially on the  inside that Brooklyn has, now that Jarret Allen is now in Cleveland. Lastly, Harden and Irving love to dribble to get into their offensive rhythm which can be problematic when you have 2 of these players starting on the same team. In the end the Nets will go to the finals at least twice in the next 3 years, but this year will not be one of them. Many have asked if this will be a success or failure? If you are measuring by the number of rings then I’ll say a failure because I see maybe 1 championship at the most. I can’t wait to find out.