By: ANU GREHARY
The NBA had a massive BlockBuster Trade recently. It was a four-way trade between the Nets, Houston Rockets, the Indian Pacers, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The major moving pieces are: James Harden, Victor Oladipio, Caris Lavert, Jarret Allen, Tayereaun Prince, and loads of draft picks for the future.
This trade changes the landscape of the east completely. For many years the western conference in the NBA has always been super competitive. The fact that teams had to work even harder to win games from that conference. This sentiment no longer rings through. New Powerhouses like the Raptors, Sixers, Celtics, and recently Pacers have joined a mix of strong teams. This is not mentioning the heat and other young squads as well. Overall, causing a massive stir in the NBA community.
The Nets’ acquisition of Harden certainly makes them title contenders. Harden has back up these claims. In the last six games, the Nets have won four of them. Unfortunately, there are serious concerns as well. Max Kellerman: a famous ESPN analyst, has said that ” they have to get their defensive identity together.” The Nets before the trade were one of the worst defensive teams. With Harden, they are the second-worst defensive team in the NBA. Kenny from the famous NBA analysis YouTuber has said their struggle was never offense, and in fact, they were struggling in defense. The Cleveland Cavaliers proved that exact point. The Cavaliers were the second for the terrible offense. When they played, the Nets allowed the Cavaliers to score one hundred and forty-four points. In the next game, the Nets allowed a hundred and twenty-seven points to be scored as well. Also, they sacrificed 2 of their best role players. Kenny said it makes no sense for the nets to trade Jarret Allen as he was one of their bright spots for the team. This statement backs up because Deadre Jordan has received a multiple DNP. Kyrie and Harden have the precedent of bad locker room behavior. In Houston, Harden had issues with Dwight Howard, Cp3, and Westbrook. While in Boston with the Celtics, Kyries always neglected to communicate with his team. Overall, the Nets have a thing to tune out.
Though The Nets have some massive issues to fix, their offense alone makes them scary. The Nets have the top three isolation players. Kyrie has the best handles in the league, Harden draws a ton of fouls, and KD is dropping 30 points on consistency. On top of that, when Harden played his first game with the Nets. He played very well without even practicing with them, and his chemistry with KD is on point. Harden elevated Deandre Jordan’s stats as well. Overall this caused fans to be excited
Fans have given tons of mixed responses. Local bay area fan Jordan Singh said, “it gets people excited to go watch players. It builds community and fans.” When asked how he feels about the trade; Jordan said, ” it puts my favorite players together, and I am excited to watch.” Overall, fans of Harden and KD are very excited to watch the play. This sentiment is also shared by Harden. He said it is not that hard to play with good players. Harden says he is genuinely happy to play. Overall fans have a ton to look forward to.
Overall, people are starting to talk about Brooklyn basketball, and overall this could create major waves in the league.
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