Say this about the Nets.
They are going out kicking and screaming when it comes to attempting their first-ever NBA championship this year, and they did it again Wednesday acquiring disgruntled Houston Rockets star James Harden in a four-team megadeal trade that had the Nets give up Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurics and Taurean Prince.
So basically the Nets feature three stars and not many role players. Maybe it’s for the best since one basketball won’t be enough for everybody. Shoot, who knows if one ball is enough for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Harden?
I find all of this fascinating. Either this works out great or this becomes combustible. There won’t be good and bad moments that we can savor or forget. It works out for the Nets by winning a championship or it becomes combustible if the Nets don’t get it done. That’s the price that comes with getting three superstars that need the basketball to be successful.
Durant is willing to sacrifice, but it’s hard to believe Irving and Harden will.
Harden has been known to be a ball-stopper when it comes to running an offense. He needs the ball to jack up shots or else he will be ineffective. It’s not an accident most of his Rockets teammates couldn’t stand playing with him since they were known as bystanders that would watch him play. He also doesn’t play defense.
Oh, and he’s out of shape, and that will take months for him to get back in it.
If Harden gets the ball, you can bet Irving won’t get many shots. If the absentee Nets point guard doesn’t get the basketball, he is going to pout and cause problems. Oh, and he would be useless.
There’s no way Harden is sacrificing his shots. If he does, he becomes useless since his only strength is scoring.
One wonders if Harden and Irving would embrace each other’s leadership. The troubled Nets star takes orders from no one. He is his own guy for better or for worse. He makes his own rules as we saw him taking a sabbatical for only he knows why. The former Rockets star is just like Irving, but only stable to the point he won’t act out.
There’s no question frustration will take place among one another during the course of the long season. Are Irving, Harden and Durant equipped to handle a crisis? From watching these three players over the years, I find it hard to believe looking at their mercurial personalities.
Durant hates playing basketball. Irving is unstable. Harden tends to be moody. This could turn out to be a powder keg more than those three performing sweet music on the floor.
For anyone that says the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors made it work with super teams over the years, keep in mind Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were willing to sacrifice their stats for the common good of winning.
Sure Irving, Harden and Durant can speak good intentions to start, but their actions speak louder than their own words. Just watching the makeup of those three players, I don’t see it.
The three of them will try hard to prove their critics wrong, especially since everyone wants them to fail. But it’s hard to change their character for a longer period of time. Their true colors will come out because it’s because of who they are.
So much for Irving changing now that Durant is playing. It took only nine games for the problematic Nets point guard to cause problems. He left the team without telling his head coach or anyone in the organization, and he hasn’t come back since.
We may know the answer to that now. SNY’s NBA Insider Tommy Dee reported on Twitter that Irving has been furious with the Nets for awhile since he had zero input on the next coach, not to mention he does not think much of Nets coach Steve Nash. The report mentioned he and Durant have been distant lately.
So if Irving is having emotional and mental issues right now, why would anyone think that’s changing? How’s getting Harden going to make this better?
Unless the Nets suspend Irving for the season, maybe it can work. Don’t bet on it. The Nets did not spend money on their point guard just to suspend him. They have to figure it out in making it work.
Make no mistake. With Harden’s arrival, the Nets were reminded once again what the expectations were at the start of the season.
The Nets will provide a case study on whether or not chemistry is overrated with three egotistical players.
Either the critics are proven right or the Nets’ new three amigos get the last laugh.
With everyone watching, it will never be a dull moment.
