LOL Giannis just needs to return those MVPs and DPOY. Even Broke Back Blake is clowning Giannis. Completely boondoggled!
Thats why I wish we would’ve gutted BKN more in the deal. They traded 3 FRP and 4 swaps. But essentially one of those swaps isn’t going to happen and next years pick will be late. I wish we could’ve pushed to include dinwiddie in the deal too so BKN wouldn’t have his contract for trades to patch up any holes left on the team.
WSJ article entited: James Harden Was Traded for a Sixth-Grader On the day the Brooklyn Nets became an NBA superteam by trading for James Harden, a player they might one day send back to the Houston Rockets was in his mother’s car finishing his math homework. Josh Rivera had been driven to his basketball trainer’s gym for a workout by the time he peeked at a television and learned that his favorite player was now playing for one of his favorite teams. “I was like, whaaaaaaaat?” he said. It was hard to consider a world in which Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were teammates and reach any other conclusion. But when the Nets instantly became title contenders by trading for Harden, they didn’t just swap players with the Rockets. They also paid a fortune in draft capital. Harden cost the Nets the rights to their first-round picks through 2027—which means James Harden was traded for someone like Josh Rivera. This is the way the best NBA teams are built these days. They have to make trades so far into the future that players involved are currently in sixth grade. Rivera is such a Harden fan that he once bought his own beard to dress like him for Halloween. A trip to the costume shop was the only way for him to replicate Harden’s stupendous facial hair: Rivera happens to be 12 years old. Josh Rivera Jr. dribbles a ball at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, N.Y. PHOTO: JOHNNIE IZQUIERDO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The sort of player on the other side of the biggest trade of the NBA season is a lanky boy with braces on his teeth and middle school on his mind. He dreams of dunking one day soon, but for now he’s content with “almost touching the rim.” The last time he checked, he was 5-foot-11. “But that was a couple months ago,” said his father, also named Josh Rivera, as they walked into practice one afternoon last week. “We haven’t measured you in a while.” When they did a few days later, he was 6-feet tall. “And getting close to 6-foot-1,” his father said. He has a long way to go and many inches to grow before he gets to the NBA, but kids like him are being traded already because deals that move superstars and warp the league’s competitive landscape can only come together between teams with different strategic objectives and incentives. One (like the Nets) is willing to mortgage its future in the hopes of winning a championship right away. One (like the Rockets) is willing to lose in the short term for a greater probability of a title in the long run. One is buying. One is selling. Thus, a trade. The team dealing its best player for draft picks is essentially betting against the other team. And the NBA is long on these shorts. The Pelicans have liens on the Lakers and Bucks after parting with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday. For the Clippers to pair Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, they gave the Thunder everything but Steve Ballmer’s courtside seats. But the trade between the Nets and Rockets for a disgruntled Harden was the type of blockbuster deal that will resonate for a decade to come. It brought the Nets the league’s richest and weirdest collection of talent. Harden joining a team with Durant and Irving was like slathering an ice-cream sundae with several fountains of hot fudge. It was almost impossibly sumptuous. And it was likely to be delicious. The Nets acquired James Harden to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. PHOTO: BRIAN BABINEAU/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES The most remarkable thing about the Nets finishing the season with the best offense in the history of the league was that their best players barely played together: Harden, Durant and Irving were on the court for 6% of the team’s minutes. It turned out to be a preview of the playoffs. The Nets looked magnificent in taking a 2-0 lead against the Milwaukee Bucks—and they were spectacular despite Harden injuring himself on the very first play of the series. The steep price they paid for someone who might not be part of a championship run is a reminder of the uncertainty baked into NBA trades of this magnitude. But the Nets getting Harden was the least risky part of the deal. That’s because the Rockets got a bunch of kids to be named later. Josh Rivera could be one of them. Rivera is a star for the sixth-grade team of the Riverside Hawks, an elite AAU program in New York that routinely sends players to colleges and the NBA. He tries to watch basketball every night before he falls asleep between 10 and 11 p.m., though it has never been easier for someone his age to follow the NBA. If he misses a big game because it’s past his bedtime, Rivera catches highlights on Instagram and replays on YouTube. The rest of his schedule is busy with basketball. There are private workouts and practices on Saturday and Sunday. He goes to practice at Riverside Church on Monday. Tuesday is for strength training. Wednesday is when he sees a coach who trains NBA players. Thursday is another night of workouts. “And then Friday is his rest day,” says his father. Rivera spends so much time in the car with his parents that he does homework by connecting his computer to the personal hotspot on his phone. But last spring, when school became a screen and he wasn’t being driven anywhere, his family bought a hoop for their house in Yonkers, N.Y., so that one thing about his life wouldn’t change: At least he could keep playing basketball. Josh Rivera Jr. jokes around with his father Josh Rivera. PHOTO: JOHNNIE IZQUIERDO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL It was around this time when Rivera noticed something curious about the younger Josh. He was doing things that his father hadn’t taught him. “They emulate what they see,” said the older Josh. “You watch him practice and play and think: He’s 11 or 12. How is he getting that? Then you realize: Wow, he’s seeing that from the players.” Every time he turns on a Nets game, this dean’s list student is learning. “I watch to study,” he says. Rivera is big and long for his age, so he marvels at Durant, who is also big and long for his age. He often has the ball in his hands, so he takes notes on Irving’s spellbinding handle. Since he’s a sentient youth basketball player, Rivera has a stepback that he stole from Harden. He wants to be like them when he grows up. He also wants to go to college. But if the league and the players’ union change the rules of draft eligibility, Rivera’s peers in sixth grade could be in the NBA as soon as 2027. That’s his goal. “I want to be a professional basketball player,” he says. One of the wonderful things about being in sixth grade is that your entire life is ahead of you. The future is seventh grade. Eighth grade feels like forever. Rivera’s senior year of high school is roughly a century away. But that’s how far in advance NBA championships are won. The Nets could be irrelevant by then, and James Harden could be retired. In his place will be the players for whom he was traded—the players like Josh Rivera.
I heard the same thing about the Lakers and Heat. Dynasties are rare and based on talent AND luck. Injuries, contracts and chemistry are not a given.
I think we turned out alright. Us still talking and being excited about it is proof enough. Besides we have a chance to draft one of the 2 stars in this draft.
Short sighted. I’d pay him to dwindle the nets assets more and he’s an easily movable contract. Could’ve gotten under the tax multiple other ways.
Trading LeVert, Allen and four picks that three could be late first is everything for a guy who probaly guarantees them 2 rings in the next three years is everything? Lol
Nets have a historically great offense and their 3 best players only played 8 regular season games together. Imagine how much better they will be next season with better chemistry, additions to roster and more games played together. Not to mention their postseason defensive efficiency.
Might have won it without him. Probably will win with him if he plays. I wonder if harden cost himself some money with his injuries and not signing the extension.
No way. Nets are .500 team without Harden. They will need him in EC Finals. Bucks are just wannabes and always get exposed in postseason.
Our time will come. Hopefully we draft well and keep all our picks.....that should attract some nice free agents who realize our team is on the rise.
Perhaps the Brooklyn injuries have given many who dislike this deal a glimpse of what is possible. The more that goes wrong, the better. It's a good sign for us that this sort of thing has already started. Shorting the Nets on the backside should prove extremely lucrative.
Ther Lakers and the Heat did have dynasties before and where better after winning championships. It's like you focused on one example and forgot about the other examples. Nobody thought the last year Heat and Lakers were Dynasties.
Wut? What have we glimpsed getting a pick out of the lottery? They still made the playoffs even when they did not all play together.
