James Harden has been involved in several trade rumors around the league in recent times. The Brooklyn Nets superstar has lived complex times in New York, carrying the team when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were inactive last season.
In this campaign, the situation isn’t that different, as Durant has gone down with an injury while Kyrie Irving has become a part-time player due to his refusal to take the covid-19 vaccine.
These recent developments have sparked some rumors regarding Harden. Even though he clarified he’s frustrated because he wants to win and the Nets have struggled in recent games, Harden is reportedly unhappy with Kyrie Irving’s part-time player status. The 2016 NBA champion can play only in road games, leaving all the burden to Harden.
Some trade rumors place The Beard in a new team, the Philadelphia 76ers. With the ongoing Ben Simmons saga, some say the Australian point guard could be shipped to Brooklyn in exchange for Harden.
This sounds like a good idea on paper, but not for everybody. Some executives believe that Harden’s personality could create some issues with Joel Embiid, the Sixers’ main guy.
“I’d be worried about how this is going to go for Joel,” said one league exec, via Heavy. “If James has realized that he has to conform his game to what he has around him if he wants to win, then you’d have a lot of talent there. But it would require sacrifice. Every team that wins has guys making sacrifices in their personal games.”
Somebody who watched Harden playing in Houston doesn’t think things would work that smooth between the 2018 NBA MVP and the 2022 MVP candidate. James has a reputation around the league and that would follow him to the City of Brotherly Love.
“That wasn’t a good situation,” he said. “He had a strong relationship with Daryl. Things never worked with James and Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook or Dwight Howard. At a certain point you have to ask who was really the problem.
“If James gets to Philly, it could be a situation where Embiid’s complete game will depend on whether James wants to give him the ball or not — and James is a weird control freak. He will not throw him the ball at certain times in games just to let Joel know that, like, I’m the guy.”
Harden has teamed up with many stars in the past and it seemed like he couldn’t click with them no matter how hard they tried. Once he arrived in Brooklyn, things started to look different, but now he’s the main guy on the team again, which is what he tried to escape when he was in Houston.
KD will be sidelined for a couple of weeks, Kyrie will only join the team when they travel, leaving Harden alone to lead a squad that’s managed to stay within the top 4 in the Eastern Conference. Harden wants to win, but the job will be harder for him if the Big 3 becomes a Big 1.
