On January 26, Beijing time, the open-air grandstand sports reporter Jack Fisher broke the news: James Harden has many dissatisfaction with the current situation, wants to jump out of the contract in the offseason, and seeks other possible options other than the Nets.
Harden decided to leave the Rockets at the beginning of the season and named the Nets, and finally got his wish, forming a big three with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who were once regarded as the number one favorite for the championship before he and Irving were injured in the semifinals last year.
However, since the beginning of the season, the Nets have not performed well, combined with various on-court and off-court disadvantages, Harden's idea of leaving is actually not unusual.
Owen is willful, and the Big Three survive in name only
Referring to the reasons harden wanted to leave, Fisher quoted the source as giving three main reasons, the first of which was his dissatisfaction with Irving's "part-time status.".
Harden wanted to join the Nets because durant and Irving, three top scorers in history, gave them a great chance to compete for the championship. Last season, although the Nets' regular season record was not bad under the condition of three people taking turns to rest, everyone knew that when it came to the real decisive moment in the playoffs, without any one of them, the Nets would have a hard time laughing to the end. Later facts also fully proved this.
Because Harden and Irving were injured in succession, the Nets division semifinals lost to the final champion Bucks, which became very reasonable and acceptable. Before the start of the new season, as the Big Three regained their health, they were once again listed as the number one favorite for the championship.
But Irving's willfulness ruined the Nets' good situation. Because New York City's epidemic prevention regulations require local players to be vaccinated to participate in the home game, and Irving refused to be vaccinated, the Nets simply let Irving temporarily leave the team from the team's point of view, and opened a new season under the leadership of Durant and Harden.
Later things are also very clear to everyone: the Nets did not perform well, caught up with a new wave of the epidemic, chose to compromise in the case of a serious shortage of manpower, and accepted Irving's part-time status until now.
But the Nets' compromise didn't fundamentally solve the problem, Irving still hasn't been vaccinated, and he has made it clear that he won't be vaccinated, which means he can still only play in away games, and with Durant suffering another knee injury and will be out for weeks, Harden is actually back in the embarrassing situation of being alone with the Rockets before last season's trade.
This is actually not the most intolerable thing for Harden, because injuries are part of the NBA, and Durant will return soon. The point is that, as things stand, in the playoffs, Irving will only be able to play half of the games. In such a situation, the Nets' hopes of winning the championship are extremely slim.
According to statistics, although the Nets were only half-court away from the First Place Heat in the East before playing the Lakers today, their overall record was a pitiful 1-8 when facing the top four teams in the East and West. The only game they won was away to the Bulls on Jan. 13, after they had a 0-2 win against the Bulls. In other words, if it were a series, they would still be the eliminated side.
How will the epidemic develop in the future? It's unclear to anyone that vaccinations will no longer be mandatory in New York next season. But this is not the first time that Irving has "behaved willfully", and I remember that when Harden was just traded to the Nets last season, Irving left the team privately, which could not be resolved with his later return, and there is no clear statement to this day.
So, not only did Irving's "part-time playing" itself cause direct damage to the team, but worse, it further caused him to lose the trust of his teammates, including Harden. The vaccine storm may only be temporary, but who knows what new moths will be tomorrow?
Harden came to the Nets in order to form the "Big Three", and now that the Big Three are in name only, he naturally loses his reason to stay here.
The mentor left, and Harden was like a fish running out of water
In the four seasons before leaving the Rockets, Harden won the league scoring champion three times and the assist king once, bringing his personal ability to the fullest. He was elected as the regular season MVP and became the league's superstar, in addition to his own talent and efforts, there is another person's credit, that is, Mike D'Antoni.
It was D'Antoni, who transformed Harden into an organizational defender, the ultimate ball-holding big core, that had Harden's subsequent series of dazzling luxury data performances, so that personal value was fully reflected. Harden joined the Nets last season, in addition to durant and Irving's "inspiration", Enshi D'Antoni was working as an assistant coach under Nash at the time, focusing on offense, which is also a factor that cannot be ignored.
So, although Harden changed teams and had two more star teammates around him, the tactical environment he was familiar with has not changed. So after switching to the Nets last season, he sacrificed the number of shots, averaging nearly 10 points per game, but he is still the main initiator of the team's offensive tactics, with an average of 10.9 assists per game to show personal value and play well.
But before the season began, D'Antoni left the Nets coaching staff, Nash made a modification of the team's tactical system, emphasizing defense more than ever, and on the offensive end, Durant was back in the spotlight — in addition to continuing to serve as the number one offensive arrow, he also took a lot of ball-carrying tasks from Harden. At the beginning of the season, when the Nets were struggling the most, we can often see Harden dribbling the ball past halfway to Durant, standing on the weak side to "watch the play".
Although Harden will not compete with his "big brother" Durant for power, Nash's tactical arrangement will undoubtedly increase his deep dissatisfaction.
Fischer mentioned in his report today that Harden was unhappy with Nash's frequently changed rotation lineup because Nash liked to let the players in better form end the game, rather than adopt a fixed rotation rhythm.
In fact, this small detail itself is not a serious problem, but as a veteran who has been in the league for many years, Harden may have long learned not to directly express his dissatisfaction with the tactical role, not to mention that this is directly related to his good brother Durant.
Harden's dissatisfaction is understandable, because the Nets have struggled on the offensive end this season — as of today's game against the Lakers, they have scored 112.2 points per 100 possessions, and their offensive efficiency has dropped significantly compared to last season (117.3 points per 100 rounds). Before entering 2022, their offensive efficiency in the first 33 games of the season could not even reach the top ten of the league.
The Nets' three superstars are not known for their defense, which determines that no matter how hard the team tries, it is difficult to gain a sense of accomplishment in defense, let alone win the championship by defense.
From this point of view, D'Antoni's departure is definitely a major loss for the Nets. Nash, who left D'Antoni, has clearly failed to find the code of success to keep the team competitive and satisfy his star players.
Time is running out, and the dream of a champion can't help but falter
The Nets' problems are actually all clearly on the table, why just broke the rumor that Harden wants to leave? That's because Harden's situation is completely different from the Nets' other two superstars.
First of all, it needs to be clear, which is also what Fisher emphasized in his report: Harden did not apply for a trade, and the possibility of completing a trade before the deadline between the Nets and Harden's 76ers is almost zero.
It's just that Harden's current contract expires in the summer of 2023, but next season is a $46.87 million player option, meaning he can jump out of the contract this summer and re-choose his future as a free agent. In this context, he can certainly make a new environment his own realistic option.
In addition, the more critical difference between Harden and Durant and Irving is that Durant has won two championships before leaving the Warriors, and Irving also joined hands with LeBron James in 2016 and has won championships in the Cavaliers. And Harden, as a first-line superstar in the league, has not yet won a crown, which inevitably makes him bear a lot of doubts and needs to prove himself.
Almost every NBA player will say that the championship is their ultimate goal, but how high the true ingredient of this sentence is actually different from person to person.
In fact, excluding personality differences, among all types of players, the strongest desire for championships is precisely Harden, who has everything in statistics, personal honors, salary and income, etc., and is a "veteran" who lacks a championship ring. The more nothing, the more you want.
Harden originally played a series of epic data performances in the Rockets and won the regular season MVP, but still refused the two-year, $103 million early contract extension offered by the Rockets, insisting on leaving, because he did not see the hope of winning the championship in the Rockets. At that time, the one who could get him closest to the championship was the Nets. So now, when he's no longer optimistic about the Nets' prospects for a championship, it's no surprise that he has the idea of leaving.
And Harden is 32 years old, which is already a rather delicate age for a player who likes to break through with the ball and has a high dependence on speed and explosiveness. Wei Shao is only half a year older than Harden, his current situation has been seen by everyone, Harden's projection is better than Wei Shao, and the peak period should be longer, but the "winning window" left for him is also relatively limited.
In fact, Harden this season has shown some signs of decline - because of the rule adjustment, coupled with the injury recovery offseason training is not systematic, he struggled at the beginning of the season. Although his form has picked up significantly recently, his performance of averaging 22.7 points and 10.1 assists per game, shooting 41.9% from the field and shooting 33.8% from three-point range is still not the same as his peak.
So for Harden, an unavoidable fact is that every year, the possibility of his personal decline increases by one point, and the hope of winning the championship decreases by one point.
Irving is so willful that while Durant has performed well this season, the recent injury is yet another reminder of his health risks. In contrast, Joel Embiid, who is entering his peak, scoring 30+ in 14 times in the past 15 games and scoring 170 points in 128 minutes in the last four games, is clearly a more reliable helper.
Today the Nets played the Lakers at home, in the case of Durant's injury and Irving's lack of qualifications, Harden tried his best, scoring 16 points in the first quarter, and finally won 30+ triple-doubles, but it is still difficult to escape a loss, which is the dilemma he is currently facing.
Harden is not unprofessional or unexpiring, but the better he plays, the more it shows how eager he is to win. And if he ends up choosing to leave the Nets, it's definitely because he thinks it brings him closer to victory.