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Trading Harden for Simmons won't fix Nets, healthy KD, full-time Kyrie will

 

Photo by Doug Bearak

NBA trade rumors are going bonkers right now including a proposed trade between Brooklyn and Philly involving a James Harden for Ben Simmons swap among other moving parts.

These are fun scenarios for the NBA trade machine, Twitter and water-cooler talk, but none of it is grounded in reality.

The Nets are not looking to trade Harden, especially in exchange for a player who disappeared in last year's playoffs and has hid behind the stigma of a "mental health" problem to force his way out of Philadelphia.

Yes, Simmons is six years younger than Harden, a more willing defender,  more athletic and with tons of upside, but he also brings lots of baggage, a mental block when it comes to perimeter shooting and won't reach anything near his potential until after Kevin Durant is past his prime.

The Nets are a win-now club that needs Durant to take the next 4-6 weeks to heal from his MCL sprain and either Kyrie Irving to decide to comply with local vaccine mandates and become eligible to play full-time or those said mandates are relaxed (assuming the country enters more of an "endemic" phas) to this health crisis) and he returns in a full capacity.

Harden and Irving are both set to become free agents at the end of the year, but it's clear that both want to return and likely finish their respective careers in Brooklyn.

The last thing Sean Marks will do is make a panic move and ship out either player in the midst of a championship quest.

The Nets need health, luck and continuity on their side and need to fix issues inside the organization before giving up on core pieces for a younger, more unproven commodity.

Harden, Irving, proving Nets can weather storm without Durant

 

Photo by Doug Bearak


When Kyrie Irving and James Harden take the court together sans Kevin Durant in the lineup, the dynamic backcourt has won nearly 82 percent of the games over the last two seasons. 

You heard it right. A record of 18-4 to be exact. A superb mark for a lethal combination of playmaking, scoring prowess and ankle-breaking handles. Durant is not expected back until after the All-Star break at the absolute earliest, but it's far from panic time in Brooklyn. 

Irving and Harden combined for 26 points in a fourth quarter barrage in San Antonio 117-102 win on Friday, marking the first time the Nets beat the Spurs back-to-back times on the road and the fifth consecutive win overall in a head-to-head matchup historically dominated by the Spurs.

 

 Harden's 37 point, 11 assist and 10 rebound triple-double is his eighth 30-point plus triple double during his Nets' tenure. To put that in perspective, since the team's inception in 1967, all Nets' players have combined to produce 12 such triple-doubles. Harden is two-thirds of the way to shattering a franchise mark in less than two seasons with the team. 

Truly remarkable. 

Irving was not exactly a slouch either pouring in 24, with the same silky smooth attacks to the rim and elusive handles he's showcased throughout his NBA career. Even with Irving available on a part-time basis, for now, the Nets are in good hands with him playing alongside Harden. 

In fact, Brooklyn now holds claim to the East's top record with Chicago and Miami dealing with a bevy of injuries of late.

 

Brooklyn will travel to Minnesota Sunday as the dynamic duo of Harden and Irving will lead the charge, but starting Tuesday the Nets host consecutive games with the Lakers and Nuggets where The Beard will need to play at an MVP level to elevate his supporting cast and keep the good times rolling in Brooklyn. 

Nets top Knicks in merchandise sales for 2021-2022 NBA season



Photo by Doug Bearak


 The Brooklyn Nets are more popular than the New York Knicks, at least that's what merchandise sales data via NBA Store and NBA.com indicates this season.

Nets GM Sean Marks joined the club in 2016 and the team motto became, "If you build it, they will come."

They, being Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. The trio is among the leading vote getters ahead of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game and undoubtedly the most talented combination playing for one team.



As for the Knicks, a team that came into to the season like a lion and went out like a lamb in last year's playoffs. Julius Randle, the NBA's Most Improved Player a season ago, scored just four points on Thursday in an embarrassing loss to New Orleans.

RJ Barrett has shown flashes, but has also struggled for stretches of the year. New York doesn't touch the star power or staying power assembled in Brooklyn.

For two franchises competing in the same market, the big brother Knicks are taking a backseat to the title contending Nets.

Not helping the Knicks' cause is MSG Network's dispute with Comcast which prevents cable subscribers from watching the team play on the local network and is subject to blackout rules for nationally televised games.

The reality is sinking in that the Nets are simply better in every factet and more popular than the Knicks.

Nets can reclaim top spot in East with win over Spurs, help from Hawks, Bucks

 

Photo by Doug Bearak


It's common practice to downplay the importance of the NBA regular season nowadays. With load management prevalent across the league, teams just aren't chasing home court advantage in the same form and fashion they did even five years ago.

For the Brooklyn Nets, fans are even suggesting an absurd tanking scenario where they would secure a lower playoff seed and allow an  unvaccinated Kyrie Irving to be eligible for more games.

It's an unconventional theory, one that I'm sure Steve Nash and the rest of the locker room give absolutely no credence to. 

So, with the Nets a half game back of the Bulls, who travel to Milwaukee Friday and half game behind the Heat, who play in Atlanta, the prospect of the Nets reclaiming first in the Eastern Conference with a win is a very real possibility.

This may seem like a trivial pursuit to some, but building chemistry and confidence for the team without Kevin Durant to bail them out is going to be of the utmost importance.

Nash's mission is to remain with striking distance of Miami and Chicago and now with a chance to overtake the conference heavyweights, this is an occasion that Kyrie Irving, James Harden and the rest of the Nets' supporting cast will need to rise to in Durant's absence.

Basketball savant Kyrie Irving finally shows-up and is showing-out with Nets

Despite the whirlwind of controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving's vaccination status, his commitment to basketball being questioned and his propensity for posting cryptic social media messages, the Net point guard's talent is undeniable. 

Having practiced on just a handful of occasion with his fellow teammates so far this season, Irving hit the ground running in his season debut against Indiana on January 5 with 22 points, four assists and three steals on 52.9 percent shooting. Ineligible for Brooklyn's first 35 games of the regular season due to remaining unvaccinated, Irving picked up right where he left off in the 2021 NBA playoffs. 

The guy is a complete freak of nature, a basketball savant and as gifted a player as the league can showcase. The wildest thing of all is that basketball is only part of Irving's story, who is passionate about social justice, honoring his Native American heritage and giving back to underprivileged communities both domestic and foreign. 

In fact, sometimes basketball has taken a backseat to Irving's other off-the-court pursuits and endeavors. Even with a lot on his mind, Irving went for 27 points on January 17 in a loss to Cleveland and 30 in a narrow win over Washington Wednesday night. 

Few players are more scrutinized, more polarizing and perhaps misunderstood than Irving. His come and go nature with the Brooklyn Nets is something Steve Nash and company have simply grown accustomed to. 

In his first season with the Nets, Irving played in 20 games before undergoing surgery to his shoulder. Last season, Irving played in 54 regular season games and missed time due to injury and personal reasons being away from the team. So far in five games this year, Irving is averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds. 

For a guy who practiced with the team briefly during training camp in California and rejoined the club for the first-time in the last two weeks after a four-month absence, it should be astonishing for his production and impact to be what it is. 

But not for Irving. 

Despite his icy relationship with the media, the Nets' point guard is arguably the most popular player in Brooklyn's locker room and receives plenty of praise and admiration from teammates. When he was inactive, there was a sense of joy and passion missing from the Jason Harden and Kevin Durant-led Nets. Not that either of those star players are lacking those qualities, but Irving emanates such pure joy and love for the game when he plays that it becomes infectious. 

Vaccine mandates notwithstanding, teammates and fans simply missed Irving's presence and awe-inspiring play. Now that he's back, albeit in a part-time capacity, everyone is reminded of his otherworldly talent and exactly why the Brooklyn Nets are favored to win the title with him in the fold. 

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