I saw him rise to a tall building, I saw him feast on guests, and I saw him collapse.
There has never been in the history of the NBA, and there may never be, a superstar trio that clearly has the strength to compete for the championship will fall apart in such a short period of time.
Kevin Durant, James Harden and Carey Irving, the combination of these three people does have a historic level of offensive firepower, but after only 16 games together, Harden's departure has made everything a thing of passing smoke.
Its rise and fall, its death is also sudden.
Harden is going to go on his own, just as he did when he left the Rockets a year ago. As you know, today's NBA belongs to the era of superstars, the power of superstars has long spread beyond the stadium, as long as they want to go, there is no one who can't go, Paul George, Anthony Davis have proved that even if there is an appointment, it does not prevent star players from going to their favorite teams.
Interestingly, on the eve of the trade deadline, ESPN's Voynarovsky had just written a new article for Harden, the core of which was, "Harden wants to leave, but he is not willing to make this request publicly, because he is worried about how he will be attacked by the outside world after two consecutive years of application for leaving the team." ”
How do we evaluate Harden's wonderful inner state? Should he say that his conscience is not broken, that he knows that it is actually quite excessive, and that he is even more so concerned, or should he be disgusted with his twisting and pinching, and is a cannon that dare not speak directly? From a different perspective, it seems that such news will be interpreted completely differently - but after the twist, Deng Ge finally left, no longer intoxicated with the prosperity of New York, no longer attached to the affection of his brothers.
Harden only had 393 days from arrival in Brooklyn to departure, and since he was willing to come for the championship, he would also leave because he could not see the hope of the championship.
Regarding Harden, whether he has embarked on the road of drifting, whether he will regret coming to Brooklyn to take this fate, we will further expand in tomorrow's push, from the perspective of the trade deadline, we will first discuss the situation of the Nets today.
The Nets maintained the unified tone of "we will not trade Harden" for a long time, but after Deng's own statement, he really couldn't sit still, but in the end, the return from the 76ers was obviously far from what they expected, especially the 76ers have been gritting their teeth and refusing to add excellent young players Terrys Maxi and Matisse Sable, from the final result, the 76ers are obviously the winning side of the tugsaw.
Why are these two young people so important? First, for the Nets, who are older and have a rather erratic role player, they need the energy that Maxi and Sebel might bring; second, as a team that originally planned to fight for the championship, the players who can play this season are far more significant than the draft picks, and to take a step back, if the Nets can use follow-up trades, take Joe Harris or Clarkston, plus 1 or 2 first rounds to get Jerami Grant or someone else, then it makes sense to combine these deals, but the reality is The Nets failed to do all that.
The Nets eventually got players, except for Seth Curry, who was identified as the top scorer, which helped their offensive space, and the other gains were uncertain. Of course, Ben Simmons can theoretically provide height, athleticism, defense and offensive maneuvering, but his state is inevitably worrying, and his professional attitude has been questioned; as for Drummond, in the center position, the Nets already have Clarkston, Aldridge, Griffin, and Sharp playing mahjong around the table, and Drummond can only give everyone a cup of tea.
Of course, the Nets still have the possibility of winning: Ben Simmons and the team are particularly complementary, Durant is very powerful, Irving even figured out a shot at himself, if they can do the above, they may still be a championship candidate team, in the US netizens' trade survey, there are even many people who think that the Nets are the winners in this deal.
However, regardless of the final result, only from the information that can be obtained now: the Relationship between the Nets has been full of contradictions, Harden not only can not see the hope of the championship here, but even becomes a gap with teammates and coaches, so can such a team really be regarded as a champion candidate?
And, as a team that pays such a high luxury tax, they let Harden even the imagination of the championship shattered, claiming to protect Kerry Owen who lost his job because of the vaccine, and finally broke his own work unit, the front line toughman Bemburi was cut off after the trade, how many people were protected because Irving is difficult to say, but there are really people who lost their jobs because of him...
Including on the closing date, as mentioned above, the Nets' bargaining power was completely defeated in front of the 76ers, and the measure to remedy the follow-up transaction was to only listen to the thunder and not see the rain. Regardless of the outcome, just talk about what happened now, the Nets are obviously outright losers, considering the price they paid a year ago: Carris Levert, Jarrett Allen, Torian Prince and all the first-round picks that can be used from 2021 to 2027, it is even more breathless, this year, it is really a dream of Nanke.
The Nets should even rejoice: Fortunately, competitive sports are ultimately heroes who make or break, in case...
Interestingly, many fans believe that the Nets are not the biggest losers on the trade deadline, such as Lakers fans, such as Lone Rangers fans, will firmly believe that the Nets are doing a good job.
The Lakers ultimately failed to make any deals, and the players they wanted to swap out, whether it was Westbrook or young Horton Tucker, proved to be unattractive by the market, and even on the deadline for the trade, there were fewer rumors related to the Lakers, and Rob Pelinka's phone was almost broken and did not convince any general manager. Therefore, in the eyes of Lakers fans, the Nets have also tried a big gamble, and the Lakers can only guard the current lineup, holding back and nesting, to meet the remaining 30 games of the league's most difficult.
As for the Lone Rangers, the level of shock they made was even more shocking than the Nets, although the sending Porzingis was not unacceptable, but from the Wizards back to Dinwiddie and Bertans, with a contract with a remaining two years, slightly poor cost-effective, in exchange for two garbage long contracts with three years each, from 3:30 a.m. to the 8:00 a.m. when this article was issued, many Lone Rangers fans have not slept.
Here, we still make a simple summary of the transactions that happened in this crazy night:
● Four big trades, with the Kings getting DiVincizo from the Bucks, Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles from the Pistons, the Bucks getting Sergi Ibaka from the Clippers, the Pistons getting Marvin Bagley from the Kings, and the Clippers getting Ojele and Rodney Hood from the Bucks;
Spurs sent Sadis Young and Drew Eubanks to get first-round picks from the Raptors for Dragic and 2022 Lotto protection, and Dragic is expected to be bought out;
The Nets sent James Harden and Paul Millsap from the 76ers to Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Drummond, the 2022 unprotected first-round picks, and the 2027 protected first-round picks;
The Celtics sent out Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford and the 2022 first-round pick protected by the top 4 picks, getting Derek White from the Spurs;
The Hornets sent Ismail Smith, Vernon Kelly and a second-round pick to get Monterrezil Harrell from the Wizards;
The Suns sent Jaylen Smith and a second-round pick to get Torre Craig from the Pacers; and with Saric's injury exception, the Wizards ate Aaron Holliday from the Wizards, who were compensated in cash;
● The Lone Ranger gave Porzingis and a second-round pick, from the Wizards to Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie;
The Rockets sent Daniel Theis and replaced Dennis Schroeder and Bruno Fernando from the Celtics.
It's a crazy trading deadline.
The last time the NBA had an MVP of less than 5 years, it was last year in the middle of the season, and then it was back to Chamberlain in 1965, so it is undoubtedly exciting for fans to see so many big deals on this trade deadline.
Because of the lack of big fish in this year's free agent market, many teams have decided to advance the date of betting and let go at the trade deadline; and the chaotic situation in the league this season has made many teams see the possibility of breaking out of the siege, so they have made up their minds to strengthen, especially in the chaotic East, the top 10 teams, bucks, Cavaliers, 76ers, Raptors, Celtics, Nets, Hornets have made their own moves, and the current First Heat in the East, The bulls, the third in the East, will wait for the return of the wounded to help them – so for the melon-eating masses, it will be a cheerful night, a night of imagination, and even the craziest trading deadline in memory.
So finally, we rated the trading deadline:
Lakers, 0 points; Nets, -60 to 20 points; 2022 NBA trading deadline, 100 points.
A month later, a full month later, the Nets are going to be in Philadelphia...