But after that call, the Nets shifted focus. To that point, Tsai had been willing to extend Harden long term and pay him $62 million at the age of 37. “He didn’t say directly I want out, but he basically was disgruntled, he was unhappy,” said a source familiar with the situation. He pressed Harden on whether he wanted to be traded. Marks called Tsai, who reached out directly to FaceTime with Harden. NBA playoff schedule did Nets ‘huge’ Ben Simmons return favor 8, a Tuesday, and intimated he wanted to leave. Finally, Harden and McCloud called Marks on Feb.
The three-time scoring champion’s play dipped and his effort came into question as talk around the league grew of his disgruntlement. As a result, when 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey - Harden’s GM in Houston - called Marks two or three weeks before the trade deadline offering a package that included the likes of Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe, he was told the Nets had no interest in moving the former MVP.
Harden reportedly didn’t feel as welcomed in Brooklyn as Irving and Kevin Durant, but he never told the Nets that. Joel Embiid and James Harden NBAE via Getty Images Ben Simmons for the NY POST And while Nets general manager Sean Marks fully expected Harden to sign an extension before opening night, it didn’t happen. The veteran Harden had parted ways with agents Jason Ranne and Chafie Fields of Wasserman (whom he’d engaged to facilitate his move out of Houston) and hired his friend Lorenzo McCloud in August. As it turned out it was the Nets other star guard who went.īut Harden, who eschews confrontation, was never as direct with the Nets as Simmons was with Philadelphia. Some NBA fans suggested swapping the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving for Simmons. Simmons had requested a trade as far back as August 2021, the same week the NBA sent a memo to teams that it would honor any local COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The deal had come together quickly, from Harden kind-of, sort-of expressing a desire to leave two days earlier to a call between team owners Joe Tsai and Josh Harris that spurred things along and finally to frantic negotiations the morning of the trade deadline. 10 trade, the Nets sent James Harden and Paul Millsap to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry and two first-round picks. That’s thanks to a megatrade with the 76ers - one that looked dead in the water until both owners got involved. The Nets team facing Boston on Sunday in the first round of the playoffs looks different than the one that eliminated the Celtics last May. Celtics: How to bet Game 3 at Barclays Center Nets on verge of wasting another year of Kevin Durant’s prime The change Nets hope can spark series comeback Nets on brink of elimination after Game 3 loss: ‘Sh–ty game’
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