Houston Rockets: Was the Nets offer the best one for James Harden?
The James Harden trade sent an earthquake through the entire NBA world but was accepting the Brooklyn Nets offer the right move for the Houston Rockets?
It was quite clear that James Harden would not be a Houston Rocket by the end of the 2020-21 NBA season.
From showing up to training camp late to adding teams to the list of his preferred trade destinations on a weekly basis, Harden made it abundantly clear that he wanted no part to do with the Rockets organization and would do whatever it took to get out of Houston.
While the Rockets began the season saying they were willing to get uncomfortable by keeping Harden, the final straw came Tuesday night. After losing to the Lakers, Harden straight up told reporters that the Rockets were not a good team and nothing could be done to fix the problems Houston had.
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After Harden made these statements, Houston had no other choice but to trade Harden.
So the question shifted from will Harden be traded to who will Harden be traded to and what will the Rockets get in return.
According to Shams Charania, Houston received offers and had serious conversations with both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets regarding trading Harden.
Charania reported that Philadelphia offered a package including Ben Simmons, Matisse Thybulle and draft picks, although he was not clear on the type of pick or how many picks the 76ers included in their package.
On the other hand, the Nets went all-in and gave up the farm, giving Houston four unprotected first-round picks and four pick swaps along with Caris LeVert.
While both offers had enticing aspects to them, the Rockets decided to take the Nets offer and even got two more teams involved in the trade to make it a four-team deal with the biggest move being Houston flipping LeVert for Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo.
While the deal is done and Harden is no longer a Houston Rocket, the big question is whether the Rockets made the right move by accepting the Nets offer over the alleged 76ers offer.