As you may have heard, the Rockets, Nets, Pacers, and Cavaliers have approved A. Four Hot Trade Bands. James Harden Head to Brooklyn. Victor OladipoAnd the Dante ExumAnd the Rodions Kurucs, And a large number of recruiting options will go to Houston. Carris Leverett The second round selection will go to Indiana. Jarrett Allen And the Taurus Head to Cleveland.
The Nets and the 76ers were the two teams vying for Harden’s services at the end of the race, but Philly felt the Rockets were using them as leverage to extract the most assets from the Nets, Harden’s favorite destination, a source in the league told HoopsHype.
According to an executive, Philadelphia spoiled an opportunity to improve their options as a contender by failing to get to Harden.
“I think Philly missed an opportunity and is now stuck in the middle of the East,” said one executive at HoopsHype’s Eastern Conference. “It’s not as good as Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Boston, and after all, Miami. They might just be the No. 5 seed by the end of the season. Ben Simons He has not improved in a single area of his game at all since entering the league. He is the same player today as he was in his rookie year, and the teams managed to distinguish him in the qualifiers. It’s the reason they don’t go far. “
HoopsHype spoke with several executives about their reactions to the trade and what it means for all four teams involved in the way forward.
“I love the Pacers and Houston deal,” another executive at the Eastern Conference told HoopsHype. “Brooklyn gave up a king’s ransom. I’m not sure why Cleveland took over.” Taurus In addition to giving up unprotected choice swaps. Harden is the best player at the bargain, but Brooklyn is in everything, and they have no protection in the future. Cleveland will be looking to discharge André DrummondAnd and Jarrett Allen A bright future in the league. “
Here’s a breakdown of what the trade means for each of the participating teams.
Brooklyn pushed all his chips into the center of the table to get Harden and form a star trio with him Kevin Durant And the Keri Irving.
“They’d better win it in the next couple of years,” a rival executive from Eastern Conference told HoopsHype. “It will be interesting to see how all these players and characters come together.”
Durant, Irving, and Harden all have a file Player choice For the season 2022-23.
Irving has been away from the team for personal reasons, but is seen in several videos without a mask at his sister’s birthday party, which The league achieves.
Harden criticized his former Rockets teammates John Wall And the Cousins of DeMarcus The the wrong way.
DeMarcus Cousins upon signing with Rockets and James Harden wants a deal: “My interest in playing John Wall was, to be brutally honest. The disrespect started before any interview. Just the boot camp approach shows the way he did, the weird behaviors off the field.” pic.twitter.com/pZKnF6CNon
Michael Scotto (MikeAScotto) January 13, 2021
From a chemistry perspective, Brooklyn now has three superstar players who are all claiming the ball at an elite rate and will need to sacrifice to get the trio to run on the field. Harden is ranked 8th overall in the NBA’s utilization rate (30.69), Durant is ranked 12th (30.16), and Irving is ranked 16th (29.29).
Harden reunites with his former Thunder teammates, Durant W. Jeff GreenAnd his former Rockets trainer, Mike Dantoni, in Brooklyn.
LeVert was the first post-trade draft of the Sean Marks era in Brooklyn Thaddeus Young To get selected for Indiana in 2016. It’s also worth noting that LeVert and Irving share the same agency, Roc Nation, to act. Without Allen, look for Nets to play Diandre Jordan And green in the center.
Houston stirred up a disaffected star that was an obvious reason Tension in the locker room, He hoarded a load of big draft picks for the future to either use or flip in future deals, and added Oladipo, an all-star twice.
Oladipo will be one of the largest unrestricted free agents on the market after the season, as mentioned on our site HoopsHype Rankings 2021.
“I’m not sure what’s going on there,” an executive at HoopsHype’s Eastern Conference said. “They might just want the money, so it took an expired Oladipo to get fiscal flexibility next year. Or they could try to re-sign him and see him as a good fit with Wal.”
Many executives believe the missiles will eventually trade PJ Tucker By the deadline for trade.
“I think Houston can move PJ on a separate deal later,” said one HoopsHype CEO. “It would have value in the East, especially for fighting Giannis and Durant. I can see Miami pursuing PJ and maybe even Boston.”
Such as It is observed in mid-December On HoopsHype, multiple teams have expressed an interest in trading for Tucker, and if he stays with Houston during the season, he’s open to re-signing with the Rockets in Offseason.
Rumors spread that Oladipo wanted out of Indiana for a while. Which he denied. According to a fellow Pacers’ teammate, there was no locker room tension with Oladipo despite rumors circulating about his future.
“He came to camp with a renewed mindset and was committed to the team, without tension,” one Pacers player told HoopsHype on condition of anonymity because the trade is not yet official. “I think the trade surprised us all, but it’s part of the business. We all loved you in the locker room.”
Ultimately, however, the Pacers moved his star goalkeeper before losing it due to nothing this season.
LeVert has a chance to share the back zone with her Malcolm Brogdon As a full-time beginner and $ 17.5 million next season And $ 18.8 million for 2022-23. Brogdon’s shooting ability, combined with LeVert’s ability to cut and create dribbling, should mesh together well.
“Nice catch,” the Pacers player told HoopsHype. “I’ve been a fan of his game for a while now. He has a lot of dogs and he’ll fit our young core.”
