The Three-Headed Monster
What a Kyrie, KD, Harden super team means for the rest of the NBA. Does this separate the Nets from the rest of the pack in the Eastern Conference?
Many media members and Houston personnel had tried to convince James Harden to at least give the Rockets’ new team with John Wall, Christian Wood, and DeMarcus Cousins a chance. After only 9 games James Harden had voiced his continued unhappiness in Houston in a press conference two nights ago. John Wall then criticized Harden for not being a leader and giving up without giving the new team a chance to grow into its potential. Both John Wall and Christian Wood have played fantastic this year, while DeMarcus Cousins is starting to grow into his own. None of this seemed to matter to Harden and his comments in the press conference immediately gave Houston’s front office some more clarity about the situation.
Fast forward roughly 16 hours and James Harden is a Net. The Nets included most of their depth in this four-team trade which sent Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince to Cleveland, Caris LeVert to Indiana, and numerous future first-round picks and Rodions Kurucs to the Houston Rockets. Other than Harden being traded to the Nets and LeVert being traded to Indiana, the Pacers also sent Victor Oladipo to the Rockets. The Nets were able to keep Joe Harris, DeAndre Jordan, Jeff Green, and Landry Shamet to solidify a somewhat decent supporting cast to surround the three-headed monster that is Kyrie, KD, and Harden…well if Kyrie ever comes back.
Firstly, what is Houston doing? I understand they got a haul of picks with four first-rounders and four pick swaps. They also got a proven star in Victor Oladipo. But still. You're telling me that the Rockets couldn’t get Ben Simmons and four first-rounders from Philadelphia? Of course, they could have and they shouldn’t have even asked for Tyrese Maxey. I don’t know why they did in the first place. I think Oladipo is great but Ben Simmons is a perennial all-star with elite playmaking and defense, not to mention he is only 24 years old. At the end of the day, Houston screwed up. They shouldn’t have been greedy and asked for Maxey and instead just asked for Simmons and four first-rounders which the 76er’s would have gladly agreed to. This will hurt the Rockets in the long run unless the Nets fall of the rails.
What’s going on with Kyrie? As many are aware, Irving took a personal leave from the Nets to attend his sister’s 30th bday party where he was seen maskless hanging out with a ton of people. Also, it doesn’t take sitting out at least five straight games to attend a bday party that only occurred in one night. Kyrie will also have to miss more games since the NBA is investigating Irving’s antics, while also determining the severity of the punishment they will give to him.
Many fans and media members have been critical of Kyrie’s dedication to basketball ever since he entered the league. He has been labeled as a team cancer, non-commital, lazy, unpredictable by many of his ex-teammates and coaches. His leadership has also been labeled questionable during his tenure in the NBA. This situation only justifies those claims further. Kyrie Irving has the right to do whatever he wants and what makes him happy, but at the end of the day he has a contractual obligation to his team and he has broken that several times. Will this trade excite him and make him rejoin the team? Most definitely. The bigger question however is will these antics all of a sudden stop since James Harden has arrived. Only time will tell.
Do the Nets have enough depth to go to the NBA finals? Do they need depth to go to the NBA finals and even win it? Obviously. Any team that wins an NBA title usually has depth. The Warriors with KD, Steph, and Klay had depth. The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat of the early 2010s had depth. And the Lakers last season had tons of depth. The only team I can think of that won a title without depth is the LeBron-led Cavaliers team back in 2016. The only problem is the Nets don’t have LeBron. They still have to compete against him. Yes, the Nets are now heavily favored to come out of the Eastern Conference, but it’s not a done deal like everyone thinks it is.
The Indiana Pacers have been playing fantastic behind Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, and DPOY candidate Myles Turner. They now add an elite scorer and playmaker in Caris LeVert who will fit in perfectly alongside Turner, Sabonis, and Brogdon. LeVert has shown flashes of greatness and will only continue to get better. This team has a serious shot of challenging the Nets in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously, the Bucks and Celtics will be threats to the Nets. Giannis, Jrue, and Middleton have been playing fantastic and the bench play led by Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis should only further raise their chances against a team like the Nets. The Celtics have been balling with two legitimate superstars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Yes, it is too early to say that Jaylen Brown is better than Jayson Tatum. But he sure is playing like it, not to mention he is leaps and bounds better at defense than Tatum. Oh, also, Kemba Walker isn’t even back yet and their depth is fantastic. This team should not be slept on either.
Don’t count out the Heat either. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, and Goran Dragic. Not to mention tons of depth. This team will be a scary matchup for anybody in the postseason. Their toughness is still unparalleled in the NBA.
Now let’s assume the Nets get past all of their competition listed above. Can they beat the Lakers or Clippers? It’s possible yes, but I don’t see that happening. The thought of a Harden, Durant, Irving team losing seems unimaginable. But they really could. Very easily actually. I think that the Lakers are still the best team by far in the NBA. Their match of superstars mixed with depth is unparalleled. The Clippers are also great and very deep if they somehow get past the Lakers. Either of those teams would beat the Brooklyn Nets in my opinion. I already saw this Nets team as the Eastern Conference Champions even without Harden. I still think the Nets will be the Eastern Conference Champions. However, the Lakers still have LeBron, AD, Schroder, Harrell, KCP, Kuzma, Gasol, THT, and even more depth. Once the Lakers figure out their defense(if they haven’t already) this team is unbeatable. They may need to trade for some more interior defense as Gasol isn’t getting the job done, but they will figure it out and should be able to win another championship.
Harden to the Nets doesn’t change that. Too many question marks surround this Nets team as good as they are. How will two ball-dominant players in Kyrie Irving and James Harden work together? Are Kyrie Irving’s antics going to bring this team down? Will this team have chemistry issues because of Harden and Irving’s off the court issues? Do they have enough depth to compete against great teams? Can anybody step up off of the bench like LeVert? These are all questions that need to be addressed and that remain to be seen. I do think most of this gets addressed as the regular season plays out and the Nets become the Eastern Conference Champions. However, their depth is an issue and unless someone magically becomes a sixth man of the year type player off of the bench, I don’t see them outlasting the Lakers. Lakers in 6.