James Harden Reunites With Kevin Durant In Brooklyn
Brooklyn Nets Receive: James Harden ($41.2M 2020-21 Salary)
Houston Rockets Receive: Spencer Dinwiddie ($11.4M), Caris LeVert ($16.2M), Jarrett Allen ($3.9M), Nicolas Claxton ($1.5M), PHI 2020 1st Round Pick (Pick #19), BRK 2021 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), BRK 2023 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), BRK 2025 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), ATL 2021 2nd Round Pick (via BRK)
Now this is the trade that all NBA fans are waiting to see happen. All indications are pointing towards James Harden wanting to be traded and to be traded to only one team: The Brooklyn Nets.
Monday night, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that James Harden turned down an extension offer from the Houston Rockets that would make him the league’s first $50 million a year player, making his message clear that he wants to be traded to the Nets.
Harden reportedly requesting a trade to the Nets seems crazy enough that it may just work. As it stands right now, the Nets current salaries equate to about $140 million, about $31 million over the projected 2020-21 NBA Salary cap of $109.1 million, but the Nets have players on their roster they can move to make up for the $41.2 million 2020-21 salary of Harden that could potentially be coming in.
With this proposal, the Nets would take on another $8.1 million in salary, which would cost them even more tax money since they would eclipse the league tax threshold of $132.7 million for the 2020-21 NBA season.
If bringing in Harden and paying more in salary taxes is what it will take for the Nets to win an NBA Championship now, ownership may go ahead and give the green light to the front office.
Dinwiddie and LeVert are two guys who would join the Rockets as they rebuild but set the foundation for the avenue in which this franchise would go. Both players are coming off of great 2019-20 campaigns and offer a lot to any team they would join.
Spencer Dinwiddie put up All-Star like numbers last season with the Nets, where he averaged 20.6 points and 6.8 assists, while shooting 41.5% from the floor and 30.8% from three-point range in 64 games. Dinwiddie was the Nets’ leading scorer last season amongst players who played over 20 games, and led them to a 35-37 record where they drew the seventh seed in the NBA Eastern Conference.
LeVert is also coming off of his best statistical season in his young NBA career and has a lot of potential as he enters his fifth season in the league. Although he has battled injuries early in his career and throughout college, when he is on the court, he has all the makings of an NBA All-Star.
In 45 games last season, the young phenom averaged 18.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and shot 42.5% from the floor and 36.4% from three.
This trade would not set the Rockets back too far as with the amount of draft capital they would be receiving from the Nets, and the ability to flip their draft assets for another superstar caliber player who wants to pair up with Dinwiddie and LeVert. They would be in a position to continue contending in the Western Conference.
Adding Harden to a Nets team that already has Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving could lead to one of the deadliest scoring trios in NBA history and not just one or two, but many NBA Championships in the future.
Out of all of the trade scenarios, this one seems like it has the most steam and it would not come as a surprise if James Harden is a Brooklyn Net by the end of November.
