Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash says that the team will not be looking to move James Harden before the NBA Trade Deadline.
This comes after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on the NBA Countdown show that he didn’t want Harden to go anywhere and wants everyone on the team to be committed to winning a championship.
“This has been a constant thing since the summer. He’s continually reiterated that he wants to be here, and we’ve continually said that we want him here. That’s our best chance to win,” Nash told reporters on Sunday. “Nothing has changed from the communication we’ve had.”
It was reported by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania on Friday that the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to pursue a trade for and that the Nets were open to discussing a deal. A potential trade would have included Ben Simmons going to Brooklyn in return.
Harden has a $47.4-million player option for the 2022-23 season, meaning he could still opt into staying in Brooklyn but is reportedly open to relocation this summer. Declining the player option would allow Harden to hit the open market while in his prime, allowing him to pursue what would almost certainly be a lucrative long-term deal.
The 32-year-old has been out of action with left hamstring tightness and is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 assists and seven rebounds so far this season.
“We just want to be conservative with him so that we don’t lose him for big stretches,” Nash said about Hardens injury. “I think when he’s healthy, Kevin’s (Durant) healthy and Kyrie (Irving) plays we are a totally different team.”
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