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The Brooklyn Nets are now on an eight-game losing streak and to make things worse, they are not only injured but also mired in controversy. Between Kevin Durant's sprained MCL, James Harden's most recent hamstring injury that needed an MRI, and some fever-pitch trade rumors, the Big 3 “scary hours” dream feels almost far-fetched right now.
But Kyrie Irving and the Nets insist, at least publicly, that the dream still burns within their locker room.
After the tough loss, a 124-104 blowout to the Denver Nuggets, head coach Steve Nash opened up about this team's place in the standings.
“There's a good chance we're in the play-in after the All-Star break, we're not going to panic,” said Nash. “There's still plenty of games after the All-Star break when [Durant] gets back, where hopefully we have James and Kevin at home, and James, Kevin, and Kyrie [Irving] on the road. And hopefully LaMarcus [Aldridge] comes back and Nic [Claxton's] available, you go down the line. At some point it'd be great to have Joe [Harris] back. So you're talking about five guys it's — that's your starting lineup.”
The Nets tried to snap their slump, led by Irving as the lone member of the team's Big 3. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to carry the load by himself, with the absence of KD and The Beard proving to be too much.
With just four days to go before the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline, we're all wondering what this team might look like for the stretch run and next few seasons.
Durant and Harden weren't available to the media after the game. That left Irving to ward off reporters' questions about the Harden trade rumors. Most of them revolve around a possible Ben Simmons-James Harden swap with the Philadelphia 76ers.
How does Irving deal with all of that noise?
"….how all those kinda media plants start going around w/ rumors and stuff like that, I really do not concern myself with that. The few conversations that we've had he's been really committed and we just hold him to his word…."
-Kyrie Irving on James Harden trade rumors pic.twitter.com/ZOMlm3TlTg
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) February 6, 2022
“I think James can speak better to that than I can,” said Irving. “How all those kinda media plants start going around with rumors and stuff like that, I really do not concern myself with that. The few conversations we've had, he's really committed and we hold him to his word. But obviously when we go to play games, we can't even really think about it, so we would love to have him in the lineup but we want him at his optimal healthy. … We'll let the rest take care of it but who knows, who knows what's gonna happen.”
Irving basically backs up the latest from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and says that's that James Harden has pledged to his teammates he wants to be with the Nets long-term. But ultimately, as Irving says at the end, who knows? There's more than a little smoke from credible reporters that something is amiss here.
Prior to the Sunday matinee, Nash took an even bolder stance than Irving.
“No, no, I’ve talked to James, he wants to be here,” said the second-year head coach. “He wants to be here long term as well. So I don’t think anything’s changed other than noise from the outside,” said Nash. “James wants to be here, we’re building with James and we think we have the best chance to win with James.”
“If you didn’t hear it from me, like I don’t talk to nobody, I don’t have an agent, if ya’ll don’t hear from me, than it’s reports. I’m frustrated because I want to win, and I’m a competitor, it’s pretty simple.”
-Harden on recent reports he has 'increased interest' in a trade pic.twitter.com/BrP2elTbTg
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 26, 2022
In the past, Harden has basically said if it didn't come from him, it's just reports. That's been The Beard's public stance on this stuff.
Nash emphasized that Harden is still day-to-day with his left hamstring tightness, as is Nic Claxton with the same ailment. With just a few days to go, fans will hang on every word from Nash, Irving to anyone else willing to provide another morsel. But at this time of year, it's hard to take anyone at their word with all of the leverage games being played, too.
