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Last season the Brooklyn Nets shook up the NBA landscape when they completed a blockbuster trade for 9-time All-Star James Harden. Trading for Harden cost the Nets key players such as Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen who have shown they have promising NBA futures. But for Sean Marks and the Nets front office mortgaging Brooklyn’s future was worth it, if they could deliver the Nets their first title in franchise history.
Harden’s first season with the Nets didn’t end with a championship like he had hoped. But despite falling short, Harden says that the Nets season was not a complete failure. “It was pretty good, considering all the adversity we had to deal with,” Harden said to Sports Illustrated. “Whether it’s me getting traded midseason, [Durant] missing damn near three months of the season, the COVID protocols, [Irving] missing a chunk of the season as well. And with all that said, we were a step away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Now we’ll get a full year to regroup and get this thing going where we want it to.”
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James Harden Not in Rush to Sign Extension With Nets
Trading for Harden may seem like a no-brainer but there were certainly risks involved. The biggest risk for the Nets was making the trade knowing Harden only had two years left on his deal with the Houston Rockets. This meant the team had only a short time to prove to Harden that Brooklyn was the best place for him long term. Entering into his first full season with the franchise, Harden says he is in no rush to sign an extension with the Nets.
“I’m being patient with it. I went through a lot last year. I want to make sure I’m in the right mindset and ultimately knowing that I want to be in Brooklyn long-term,” Harden said per Matt Brooks of NetsDaily.
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James Harden Wants to Bring Nets a Title
Harden also says that he has had talks with Nets general manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai concerning his extension. While he is still set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, the former NBA Most Valuable Player says that he can’t see himself anywhere but Brooklyn.
“I have talked with Sean (Marks) and Joe (Tsai). I don’t see myself anywhere else, honestly. I am taking my time with it, there’s no rush and, I want to bring a championship to the city. So, you know, I’m here. Everybody’s on the same page and everybody has the same goal, from top to bottom. It’s about winning, it’s about being competitive at the highest level and it’s about doing things the right way,” Harden told reporters per SNY via NBA Radio on SiriusXM.
“I have been here, what, not even a year, and the love and support that—not even from the coaches and whatnot, it’s from the front office, they’ve shown me we’re different and we want to communicate, and we want to make sure that everybody’s involved. They want to do what’s right at all times. It’s been great, communication, like I keep harping on, is very big with me. They’ve been doing a great job with that.”
Harden has won multiple scoring titles, a Most Valuable Player award, has multiple All-Star appearances, and a plethora of other accolades throughout his NBA career. If he can aid in bringing the Nets the franchise’s first NBA title, he could go down as one of the best guards in NBA history.
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