Brooklyn Nets Receive: James Harden ($41.2M 2020-21 Salary)
Houston Rockets Receive: Spencer Dinwiddie ($11.4M), Caris LeVert ($16.2M), Jarrett Allen ($3.9M), Nicolas Claxton ($1.5M), PHI 2020 1st Round Pick (Pick #19), BRK 2021 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), BRK 2023 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), BRK 2025 1st Round Pick (Possible Protection), ATL 2021 2nd Round Pick (via BRK)
No matter what the Nets decide to offer draft wise for James Harden, the biggest obstacle in acquiring the former league MVP is his $41.2M contract for the 2020-21 season. He is owed the 5th highest salary for the 2020-21 NBA season behind Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and John Wall, all of which eclipse $40M.
With this proposal, the Nets would take on another $8.1M in salary, which would cost them even more tax money since they would eclipse the league tax threshold of $132.7M for the 2020-21 NBA season. If bringing in James Harden and paying more in salary taxes is what it will take for the Brooklyn Nets to win an NBA Championship now, ownership may go ahead and give the green light to the front office.
The two young centers, Jarrett Allen and Nicolas Claxton are intriguing young talents who the Rockets may also fancy. Allen will be entering his fourth year in the NBA and has been one of the premier shot-blockers in the league over the last few seasons. Allen finished with 92 blocks (1.3 blocks per game) last season, ranking him tied for 13th in the league in shots blocked with Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr.
Claxton, in his rookie season with the Nets, only played in 15 games and spent most of his time in the G-League where he averaged 16.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks last season. Of a small sample size, Claxton made 55.6% of his three-point attempts, making him an intriguing option as a big man who can stretch the court on offense, and be a reliable shot-blocker on defense. This is exactly the role he had in his two seasons at the University of Georgia where he averaged 1.9 blocks per game and shot just above 30% from three-point range in his collegiate career.
In this trade scenario, the Nets would have to offer the Rockets even more draft capital than the previous trade, as they are now offering four 1st Round picks and a projected early 2nd Round pick in 2021. This seems more in line with what the Houston Rockets would expect for James Harden, who has won the NBA scoring title for three straight seasons. The NBA’s Stepien Rule does not allow for teams to trade consecutive first-round picks in back-to-back years, which is why the Nets would have to make this trade after the 2020 NBA Draft as the rule only applies for future picks and does not backtrack, even though the Nets 2020 1st Round selection would technically be made by the Houston Rockets.
If winning now is the main priority of the Nets organization and they want to try to win as many championships as they can with KD, Kyrie and Harden together, they have to be willing to give the draft capital outlined above, otherwise, James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets will not be happening anytime soon.
