Brooklyn’s Bearded Uncle Drewrantula (1/17/21)
Nickname in the title is trademark pending. Though there’s a 0% chance anyone else has as dumb a mind to think of this horrifying moniker.
Outlet
Huge trade. To recap,
TO NETS: James Harden (from Rockets), 2024 second-round pick from the Cavaliers
PLAYERS TO ROCKETS: Victor Oladipo (from Pacers), Dante Exum (from Cavs), Rodions Kurucs (from Nets)
PICKS TO ROCKETS: Brooklyn’s three unprotected first-round draft picks — 2022, 2024 and 2026 — in the deal, plus pick swaps in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027. Also, Milwaukee’s 2022 first-round pick, via Cleveland.
TO PACERS: Caris LeVert (from Rockets via Nets); 2023 second-round pick from the Rockets
TO CAVALIERS: Jarrett Allen (from Nets), Taurean Prince (from Nets)
Basically every party involved got what they wanted so I think it would be silly to do a “winners and losers” column. Instead, here’s my attempt at exhausting the major angles:
Houston Rockets
Here’s what I wrote last month while trade talk was still just speculation:
“…the Rockets’ hand has long been forced. I feel awful for Rockets fans whose hearts have repeatedly been broken by unfulfilled promises. I feel awful for John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins for their overshadowed redemption seasons. I feel awful for Coach Silas after finally getting a shot to lead an NBA team after 20 years as an assistant paying his dues — an opportunity few black coaches are lucky enough to find themselves in.”
Their demon has now been exorcised and now they can move forward and build something new. John Wall has been sensational in his comeback season. Boogie Cousins can show Harden he was wrong to disrespect them. Christian Wood is looking like a star — a Shareef Abdur-Rahim lowkey kind of star but a star nonetheless. Coach Silas’ situation reminds me of when a quarterback loses his star wide receiver; the playbook opens up now that there isn’t a gravitational demand towards one direction.
However, I think the Rockets are sort of stuck in no man’s land. Trading away a perennial MVP candidate usually signals a rebuild, but the team has too much talent to completely tank. Along with the vets already mentioned, they’re bringing in former All-Star Victor Oladipo, and remaining role players like Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker don’t exactly play losing basketball. This team can absolutely rally for a playoff run this season, but that doesn’t seem like the best goal with the long-game in mind. Compounding this problem is that the picks they received will almost certainly be towards the latter third of the first round, so high-end reinforcements from those picks won’t come until maybe 2024 (when the Nets’ star contracts expire). If I GMed this team, I’d text the NBA Slack chat that there’s a fire sale, bid away.
Caris LeVert and the Indiana Pacers
First and foremost, getting traded may have saved Caris’ life. His trade finalizing physical “revealed a small mass” on his kidney which he otherwise wouldn’t have discovered. He’s out indefinitely, but I’d speculate he’ll be all right otherwise the Pacers would’ve voided the trade.
As for when he does get back on the court, his team will be one of the most unique in recent memory. The Pacers will field THREE nightly triple-double threats in Caris, Domantas Sabonis, and Malcolm Brogdon. This team will still run through Sabonis, but Caris is a great pick-and-roll player who is a threat on the drive, will find Sabonis on the roll or pop, or find Brogdon on the wing where he’s been knock-down. It’s difficult to say whether he’s an upgrade over his predecessor Victor Oladipo, but his potential is definitely higher and Dipo has been hinting at wanting out anyway. Huge get for the Pacers, and we’ll see if Caris blossoms into a star without having Kyrie and KD hanging over his head.
Jarrett Allen and the Cleveland Cavaliers
They became relevant in the sports news cycle for a few days!
In all seriousness, getting Jarrett Allen was a steal. Short of another basketball messiah being born in northern Ohio, they will never be an attractive free agent destination so they have to get talent through other means like this. There’s currently a huge logjam of bigs on the squad with Allen, Andre Drummond, and JaVale McGee but you’d have to think they’re going to prioritize the young man’s development. Allen is basically a younger Drummond who can hit a free throw so perhaps look for Drummond to be on the move sooner rather than later.
As for Allen himself, imagine how you’d feel if you went from a championship contender living in NYC to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I’m sorry buddy them’s the breaks.
James Harden
I’m not sure that there’s many great ways to force a trade from your team, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that Harden’s method wasn’t one of ’em. The one thing I’ll mention on his behalf is the rumor that a primary motivation for the trade request was his uneasiness working for team governor Tilman Fertitta because of his pro-Trump stance. It softens the storyline, but regardless it was still far from graceful. In any case, he got exactly what he wanted and now he has the best chance he’ll ever have at winning a ring.
I’ve already written at length how talented I believe Harden is (if you haven’t already check it out here I’m decently prescient in it), but I’m still hoping he made this move with the humblest mindset possible. He has consistently come up short as the primary option of his contending teams, so maybe he’s come to terms that his style of play needs a boost from someone better — Kevin Durant in this case but possibly also playoff Kyrie. That being said, even though he never won a ring in Houston with his co-stars, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t effective. Let’s not pretend that Harden + CP3 didn’t work, they were one untimely injury away from the Finals (and were favored in that missed matchup). Let’s not pretend the Harden + Russ experiment was a failure, they overachieved with the experimental lineup Morey gambited on. In each case the stars lost to the eventual champion so there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Brooklyn Nets
My initial reaction when the trade was announced was that this Harden-KD pick game might turn into the most unstoppable play in the history of the league. Harden is already one of the best pick-and-roll players ever, and with KD setting the screens and Kyrie waiting for a kick on the wing, this play is a nightmare. Heck, there may even be a variation of stocky Harden being the screen man for Kyrie with KD on the wing. Just filthy. Their first game didn’t have any of those actions (more on that in the Heat Check below), but I’d expect Steve Nash to install it eventually given it was a nice weapon in Golden State when he was advising the KD-Curry version. I’m comfortable predicting that play will produce one of the best points per opportunity or whatever stat we have to measure its efficacy.
Their high-end talent obviously got better, but was it worth it to sacrifice depth? My answer is absolutely yes, especially in the playoffs where benches are severely shortened. Think of it this way, any shot that was going to go to Caris LeVert will now be shot by James Harden. I’ll take that.
In true Steve Nash fashion, there will likely be no defense on this team, so they have to bank on their offense being able to outblitz the opponent. It didn’t work for the Suns, but I’d argue this is as anomalous a talent group as they come so perhaps they can buck history. But even if they do come up short this season, Spencer Dinwiddie could return next year for elite depth in another run.
Hoop fans
It’s an awesome time to be an NBA fan right now, and this trade finally gives clarity on this season’s heel (along with Playoff P of course). The two (perhaps three depending on whom you ask) most polarizing personalities in the league are now on the same team, and the NBA fandom is on the edge of their seats seeing if they’ll pay for doing their teams dirty. Thank god I live in NY so I can watch every single Nets game; it almost makes up for having to stay up until 1 AM to watch the Lakers play.
However, as a fan, I would like to take this time to air my grievances on the rhetoric I’ve been hearing surrounding the new-look Nets.
Was James Harden traded for as Kyrie insurance? Uh no, that’s like buying a third mansion as insurance in case your second mansion gets bed bugs.
This team only looks good on paper. Agreed they have to play the games, but name me the last champion that didn’t look good on paper.
How will they possibly decide who takes the last shot? Uh, give the ball to literally any of the three, that’s no one’s definition of a problem.
How will Steve Nash handle these stars? I don’t think a grown ass man should be responsible for “handling” other grown ass men; they’ll either do their jobs or they won’t.
They all need the ball to be effective. Huge logical misstep here. Don’t confuse not being able to shine on EVERY play with not being able to shine period. There will be 48 straight minutes of anywhere between 1 to 3 MVP candidates on the floor.
How could they coexist in this INEVITABLE power struggle? This ain’t Breaking Bad stop it, they’ve had teammates before. Their games don’t fit like jigsaw pieces so they MUST fight over touches? They’re elite basketball players who will figure it out. All complete nonsense.
Sorry about that, my blood pressure is fine. This is what happens when I’m given a platform. Let’s continue.
New York Knicks
Deadass sigh.
Heat Check
1/12
- Very transparent lack of effort from Harden. Perhaps he knew this was his last game in Houston?
- Not sure why, but the Lakers went zone for a bit in the 2nd which John Wall promptly feasted on
1/14
- Called it, Rockets weren’t going to lose this game after the trade
- So strange seeing an athletic Spurs squad, anyone else with me?
- I hate how often I have to watch the Warriors, but the Joker is must-see TV right now
- Steph has mastered both the offensive game and the “Steph rules” game where he leverages his unique shooting threat to create advantages
- I’ll take the 7 assists from Draymond, but you’re too good to end the night with 1 point
1/15
- I’ve been resistant, but I’m finally ready to admit Middleton is straight cold
- At this point, every contender should sign veterans as foul fodder when facing Giannis. Give Anderson Varejao or Joakim Noah a minimum contract for 6 fouls a game
- Couple of brain farts from the Mavs. First, in the 3rd quarter, Dončić misses passing to a wide open Porziņģis, then Porziņģis pouts instead of getting back on defense and gives up a preventable and-1. Second, on the last possession of the game, coach Carlisle doesn’t call a time-out on an offensive board and instead loses on a broken play. Curious whether or not Luka has the license to call a time-out there himself given he was visibly upset at the decision
- I don’t know if there’s a stat for this, but I’d think AD leads the league in “times fallen to floor”
- LeBron had only 3 field goal attempts in the first half and it was only a 1 point deficit
1/16
- A 122–115 final score is about what we should expect from the Nets going forward
- I didn’t notice a single Harden-Durant pick and roll. Most of the game had DJ or Reggie Perry on the floor as designated screener, but I was hoping when they went small with Jeff Green at the 5 we’d see some action. Though Vučević was destroying everyone tonight so it probably wasn’t the best time to experiment
Mailbag
What’s going on with my Raptors?
For starters they’re based out of Tampa Bay, Florida for the season and a house is not a home. Sure they had some experience with this in last summer’s bubble, but there’s a whole new set of problems now with travel and protocols.
Secondly, we can’t understate the personnel losses of both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Between those two and Chris Boucher, there were 48 minutes of rim protection and defensive continuity.
Next if we look at their schedule, for the most part, they lost to the teams they were supposed to lose to and beat the teams they were supposed to beat. The only ones that were somewhat questionable were their losses to the Pelicans (twice) and the Spurs. The Pels losses can be explained by having an awful match-up; the Raps primary strength is their guards and that’s where the Pels are strongest defensively. The Spurs loss can be explained by their running into an ex-lover scorned in DeMar DeRozan.
I’d predict a bounce back towards a 5–7 seed in the East, but I don’t think they’re contenders as presently constructed. For the record, I would have loved to see a Pascal Siakam for James Harden trade given a similar move worked wonders for them just two seasons ago.
