Brooklyn Nets’ future: Is James Harden leaving?

No Big 3: Cam Thomas shines

James Harden expressed frustration after the Nets’ loss to the Lakers on Tuesday. He didn’t play on Wednesday due to hamstring tightness. Brooklyn lost to Denver in the second game of a back-to-back, but a few young players stepped up, giving hope for a brighter future. From the bench, Cam Thomas responded to the challenge of not having any of the Big 3 available with a career-high 25 points, one rebound and one assist. It was his fourth 20-point game of the season.

‘’We know he knows where the basket is and can score the ball,” coach Steve Nash commented in the post game presser. ’’He is getting these opportunities. We’re going to continue to work with him on shot selection and making simple, early reads out of pick and rolls so that he doesn’t get caught with difficult shots. We know he is capable of making shots.”

“It just shows we have a lot of guys that can play,” Thomas said. “For us to compete with a team like that in this kind of setting shows a lot. We just want to keep improving and we don’t want to stop there.”

While Kevin Durant was not in the lineup due to a knee injury, Kyrie wasn’t allowed to play at Barclays Center due to New York’s vaccine mandate.

The Nets put up a good fight in their loss against the Nuggets and showed less signs of miscommunication compared to the previous game.

Is Harden leaving Brooklyn?

Big questions are coming up abut Harden’s future. Is he going to stay in Brooklyn?

Reports about Harden

Before the Nets vs. Lakers matchup, an article on Bleacher Report suggested Harden doesn’t like living in New York, also because of the high taxes and the weather. According to some reports, Harden is not happy with the fact Kyrie Irving is still unvaccinated and, therefore, has a part-time player status. KD’s injury doesn’t help either and is making Harden feel all the weight of carrying a team on his shoulders. And thighs.

Other rumors suggest Harden and Ben Simmons are friends and The Beard would be a great fit to play with the 76ers and team up with Joel Embiid. Is a Simmons-for-Harden trade possible?

Harden’s answer. I am frustrated because I wanna win

In the meantime, Harden didn’t seem to appreciate the rumors about him.

“I don’t know about any reports,” Harden said on Tuesday, annoyed. “Of course, I’m frustrated because we’re not healthy. There’s a lot of inconsistencies for whatever reason: Injuries, COVID, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, it’s frustrating. I think everyone in this organization is frustrated because we are better than what our record is, and we should be on the way up.”

“That’s all it is,” Harden added. “I don’t know anything about any reports. If you didn’t hear it from me, I don’t talk to nobody. I have an agent. If you don’t hear it from me, then it’s reports. So I’m frustrated because I wanna win and I’m a competitor. It’s pretty simple.”