I am curious what has made Harden so upset that he is begging to be traded.
A healthy NETS team, no matter of seeding, would still be hell to play in the playoffs. It doesn’t seem to matter to Harden, who wants out immediately, even if that means faking some injuries and playing lackluster in games.
It appears that Harden is going into tank mode to try to force the NETS hand if you believe this report from ESPN.
“The sides are absolutely talking, absolutely negotiating,” said Brian Windhorst on Get Up. “[Tuesday], the 76ers were out looking for other moves. Talking to other teams about other moves. Moving players. Opening roster spots. Leading those teams to believe they were getting ready to make the other deal. “They have swapped offers. Really right now, it’s about haggling the ancillary parts.
“Does this mean it will absolutely get done by tomorrow? I can’t say that. I’m not sitting in the room. It’s complicated. They are in the deal zone right now. I am leaning towards this probably happening. I don’t want to guarantee it or anything, but I think we’re heading in that direction.”
Harden is pushing for this trade, according to Windhorst. “I can’t tell you how much James Harden wants this,” said Windhorst.
Windhorst suggests the way Harden played at the Sacramento Kings was a signal he wants out. Harden has subsequently not played at all for the Nets.
“He is screaming in every way he possibly can ‘I don’t want to be here, get me out of here.'”
Windy implies if the NETS don’t trade Harden, there could be trouble down the line because Harden doesn’t want to be there. We know how Harden can get if he doesn’t want to be on a team, so the Nets have to tread carefully, or his hamstring injury might linger for the entire season.
Flip the pages for some of the Twitter reactions to the news.
