The Brooklyn Nets have acquired six-time All-NBA First Team guard James Harden from the Houston Rockets as part of a three-team trade that includes the Cleveland Cavaliers. As part of the trade, Brooklyn sends center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince to Cleveland, and guard Caris LeVert and forward Rodions Kurucs, as well as three first round draft picks (2022, 2024 and 2026) and four first round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027) to Houston. The Rockets also receive guard Dante Exum and a 2022 first round draft pick from Cleveland (via Milwaukee), and Brooklyn acquires a 2024 second round draft pick from the Cavaliers to complete the deal.
“Adding an All-NBA player such as James to our roster better positions our team to compete against the league’s best,” said General Manager Sean Marks. “James is one of the most prolific scorers and playmakers in our game, and we are thrilled to bring his special talents to Brooklyn. While we are excited to welcome James and his family to the Nets, we also want to thank the players who are departing. Caris, Jarrett, Rodions and Taurean were instrumental to the team’s success and have made an enormous impact on our organization. It has been a pleasure watching them grow both as players and as people and they will always be part of our Nets family. We wish each of them and their families all the best in the future.”
The league’s Most Valuable Player in 2018, Harden (6’5”, 220) has been named an All-Star in each of the last eight seasons (2013-20), which marks the second-longest active streak of All-Star appearances behind only LeBron James (16 consecutive appearances). He’s a three-time scoring champion (2018-20) and became the first player to win three straight scoring titles since Kevin Durant did so from 2010-12. Harden was also the league leader in assists in 2017, and he’s one of just six players in NBA history who have won both scoring and assist titles in their careers, joining James, Nate Archibald, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Russell Westbrook. Harden’s six All-NBA First Team selections tie with Durant for the second-most among active players, trailing only James’ NBA-record 13 first team honors. He ranks 36th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 21,160 career points (fourth among active players) and 54th on the league’s all-time assists list with 5,338 career assists (sixth among active players).
Harden has appeared in 841 games (628 starts) across 12 NBA seasons with Houston (2012-21) and Oklahoma City (2009-12), registering career averages of 25.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 34.3 minutes per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from 3-point range and 85.8 percent from the free-throw line. In the 2019-20 season, Harden recorded averages of 34.3 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 35.5 percent shooting from distance and 86.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line with 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 36.5 minutes per game through 68 regular season games, earning All-NBA First Team honors for the fourth straight season and finishing third in MVP voting. Since the start of his NBA career, Harden has played in 841 of a possible 885 regular season games, and no player has appeared in more games since the start of the 2009-10 season than Harden.
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