James Harden has completed a blockbuster trade from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets, it has been confirmed.
Widespread reports on Wednesday revealed Harden's eight-and-a-half-year stay in Houston was set to end, with the Nets agreeing a monster deal.
The Philadelphia 76ers had also been mooted as potential suitors, but Brooklyn's offer saw the Rockets receive Caris LeVert, Rodions Kurucs, three first-round draft picks (2022, 2024 and 2026) and four first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027).
In a three-way move, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince were sent to the Cleveland, who put in Dante Exum and a further first-round draft pick (2022 via Milwaukee) for Houston as well as a second-round draft pick (2024) for the Nets.
The Rockets are expected to swiftly move LeVert and a second-round pick on to the Indiana Pacers for Victor Oladipo, although that switch was not initially confirmed alongside the Harden deal on Thursday.
Harden had been keen on a move prior to the start of the 2020-21 season and has now got his wish, linking up with Kevin Durant - his former Oklahoma City Thunder team-mate - and Kyrie Irving.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said: "Adding an All-NBA player such as James to our roster better positions our team to compete against the league's best.
"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 organisation.
"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."
Although trade talks were said to be ongoing for some time, speculation ramped up in the hours after Houston's defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
An out-of-sorts Harden put up just 16 points in 31 minutes in the 117-100 defeat and later stormed out of a post-game news conference after saying: "I literally have done everything that I can."
Those comments prompted a backlash from team-mates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, who both signed in the offseason as Houston once again rebuilt.
The Rockets failed to win a championship during Harden's time despite reaching the Western Conference Finals in both 2014-15 and 2017-18, with their star guard the league's MVP in the latter season.
Harden averaged 29.6 points per game in the regular season during his time with Houston, although that dropped slightly to 28.4 in the playoffs.
His return of 24.8 points through eight games this year was his worst average over a season for the Rockets.
Cavaliers rule out Donovan Mitchell for Game 4
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without star guard Donovan Mitchell for Game 4 of their second-round play-off series against the Boston Celtics on Monday.
The Cavs ruled Mitchell out about an hour before tip-off due to a left calf strain.
Cleveland also ruled out center Jarrett Allen, who will miss his seventh straight game with a rib injury.
The Cavaliers are facing a 2-1 series deficit to the NBA-best Celtics. In Cleveland’s Game 2 win, Mitchell contributed 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Mitchell, who sustained his calf injury late in Saturday’s Game 3 loss, is averaging 29.6 points this post-season, including a combined 89 points in Games 6 and 7 of the Cavs’ first-round series against the Orlando Magic.
Earlier in the day, backcourt mate Darius Garland told reporters that it would be important for others to attack if Mitchell were sidelined.
“Just be aggressive,” Garland said. “Play as a team, keep the ball moving and trust each other. We have a lot of guys that are super confident in themselves, so we'll need them to be super confident tonight and make the extra pass and play as a team and pull us together.”
Bronny James medically cleared to play in NBA
LeBron James may have moved one step closer to making his dream of playing with his son a reality Monday after Bronny James was cleared to play in the NBA.
According to reports, teams were notified by the league that Bronny was cleared by a fitness-to-play panel that consists of three doctors who review medical records.
The clearance comes nearly a year after Bronny suffered cardiac arrest in practice with USC last July and underwent a procedure to repair a congenital heart defect.
He missed USC’s first eight games of the season before making his collegiate debut on December 10. Bronny played in the Trojans’ final 25 contests (including six starts) and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.2 minutes per game.
LeBron, who just completed his 21st season in the NBA and is the league’s all-time leading scorer with 40,474 points, has said many times that he would love to play on the same NBA team with Bronny.
He can opt out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, possibly setting him up to sign with whatever team drafts Bronny.
After the Lakers were eliminated in five games by the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs on April 29, LeBron discussed Bronny’s future.
“The kid has to do what he wants to do - and I don’t even want to say kid no more - the young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go," LeBron said.
“I just think the fact that we’re even having the conversation is pretty cool in the sense of that. Obviously, we'll see what happens.”
Bronny is expected to take part in the NBA Draft combine this week in Chicago and undergo medical examinations.
Brunson: Injuries and fatigue 'no excuse' for Knicks' heavy Game 4 defeat
Jalen Brunson refused to make excuses for the New York Knicks after injuries and fatigue hampered them in their Game 4 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
The Pacers recorded a dominant 121-89 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to level the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2, with Tyrese Haliburton scoring a team-high 20 points.
Haliburton was one of six Indiana players in double figures but it was their defense that did the hard yards, limiting Brunson to just 18 points in support of Alec Burks, who had 20 points of his own.
Brunson entered the contest averaging a league-high 34.6 points this postseason, but he was 6-of-17 shooting and received little support from elsewhere as Josh Hart had two points in 24 minutes and Donte DiVincenzo tallied seven.
The Knicks were sluggish from the off as they played a second straight game without defensive stopper OG Anunoby, who sustained a hamstring injury in Game 2.
Brunson, however, was not about to excuse their poor performance.
"We can talk about fresher legs and you can give us all the pity that we want," he said. "Yeah, we're shorthanded, but that doesn't matter right now.
"We have what we have and we need to go forward with that. There is no excuse. There's no excuse whatsoever. If we lose, we lose. That's what that was."
The series will now head back to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for Game 5, and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle expects a strong response from their opponents.
"New York is a team that has shown that it has an indomitable will to compete and rise above anything people say they can't do," Carlisle said.
"We've seen it throughout the season. We've seen it in this series. We're believers in that, and so we've got to focus on us.
"Everything is going to be a situation where you've got your hands completely full."
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