Woj Bomb heard around the league...
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Woj Bombs come in all shapes and sizes, sometimes to let us know statements directly from owners or NBA organizations or players, some to tell us about schedule changes and league releases.
But some Woj Bombs are built different, sometimes that little blue bird pops up on your phone, and behind it lies information that changes the entire landscape of the NBA.
On a scale of 1-100 this was not a Woj Bomb, today, Adrien Wojnarowski dropped a Woj Nuke.
The new super team, out of New York City is the Brooklyn Nets.
A sentence that the old heads of New York City prayed would never be uttered.
But on Wednesday, January 13th with a trade for the ages, including 4 teams, the Brooklyn Nets collected the final infinity stone with the addition of James Harden.
Harden about 35 pounds overweight is the major piece in a multi-team deal including the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Indiana Pacers.
This trade is an ecosystem shifting event in the landscape of the league currently.
A move of this magnitude has not been made in the NBA, since Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, and before that Lebron to the Heatles.
Major team changes as of recently have included Kawhi to the Clippers, AD to the Lakers, but none are equivalent to the addition of the perennial scoring champion to a team with two elite players already.
With the addition of Harden, the Brooklyn nets will be a swiss army knife of offense, able to generate buckets at will. But how good will they be really?
Updated Nets Roster
PG: Kyrie Irving (27.1 pts, 6.1 ast, 5.3 reb)
Flat earther turned Jedi master of dribbling Kyrie Irving is currently serving a coronavirus protocol violation induced, unpaid suspension. With Kyrie out for the week, it will be a minute until we see the big 3 link up on the court.
With the addition of James Harden, Kyrie is gonna need to sacrifice his on-ball time, and his scoring numbers. With the way his time in CLE ended, only time will tell if Irving is comfortable not being the main controller of the offense.
With an already fragile ego, it was a huge part of the nets strategy selling KD and Kyrie as a duo, and not Batman and Robin, but now Kyrie will be the definitive 3rd best player on his team, and there is no telling how he'll function.
Averaging 27, 2 more points than his 25 career average, Kyrie may see a drop in production if he does not increase his efficiency. There's only a finite amount of buckets available on the court every night, and big dogs need to eat. Harden will average 28-30+ almost guaranteed, so it will be on Steve Nash and the Nets to balance out these personalities, and playing styles.
SG: James Harden (29.6 pts, 7.7 ast, 6.0 reb - HOU career averages)
The newest but soon to be ex-member of the overweight community, James Harden ate and cried his way out of his city like a real housewife. Telling the media "we are just not good enough" was the final domino to fall after the drama created by Harden in the last month in an effort to get him shipped away from his team.
James Harden is undoubtedly the best scorer on this team, if not in the league, and will get and is expecting his share of buckets. Harden, who has averaged over 29 points every season since 2015 and is not about to sacrifice the progress he's made in his scoring quest.
Some may say Harden is a problem in the locker room, I don't believe that despite evidence to the contrary as of late. Harden has been able to exist in Houston and problems have flared here or there, but he has remained respected by the core group of the Rockets, over that time.
Being added to this roster, Harden will immediately increase the offensive production of the Brooklyn Nets. It's the defense of the Nets that may be called into question with this projected line up.
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SF: Jeff Green (6.1 pts, 2.7 ast, 1.7 reb)
Insert any NBA player over 6' 6". No offense to Jeff Green, but this will definitely be the shortest one. Unlike Kyrie, Jeff Green is aware of his standing on the team and is willing and able to accept his new role as a 4 pt, 1 ast, 1 reb player.
Jeff knows he needs to contribute in other ways, off the court with handshakes, and by letting James Harden use his guest room for him and his "dancers".
Not good enough at shooting to take the big shot or passing to make the assist, shorter than 2 guys on the team so he's not gonna be a board man.
Jeff Green must live his life off the +/- stat, if he's in the game and they are - points, they will find a newer younger taller guy who will not stop the flow of the offense.
PF: Kevin Durant (29.4 pts, 7.2 reb, 5.8 ast)
Fresh off of a torn Achilles the lanky gang king, has made his return felt around the league. Averaging 29.4 KD has wasted no time getting back to his old ways. Looking healthy, strong, and agile Durant is ready to lead this team into the wars to come.
Kevin Durant should not be affected much by the addition of Harden, maybe a few baskets, but nothing major. Durant is a player that no matter who he's on the court with, will get his points.
Unlike Kyrie, KD is a focal point of the offense, while kyrie generates his points off the dribble, from the point, KD gets open and fed the ball underneath. Without that production from KD the offense would not work, his contribution is almost guaranteed if he stays healthy.
KD is just another personality in an interesting locker room, definitely the sanest of the 3 stars, but has paper for skin and lets things bother him. So if some type of drama is started on the Nets, probably Kyrie, maybe James, I don't believe that Kevin Durant is the leader that will navigate the team out of the situation.
KD is still the best overall player on this team and will continue to produce, which I believe will lead to a decrease in Kyrie's production, causing the issues that may cripple this team.
Now if somehow Steve Nash has a high enough basketball and emotional IQ to be drawing up plays that account for players' stats and their egos, he will and should win coach of the year.
C: DeAndre Jordan (4.5 pts, 6.9 reb, 1.8 ast) (Career - 9.4 pts, 10.7 reb, 0.9 ast)
Deandre Jordan is not just a 'nameless gray face' on this roster, this man is a unit in the paint. Averaging over 10 rebounds a game throughout a 12-year career is no small feat.
DeAndre Jordan will still have a huge role on this team making his presence felt on both sides of the ball.
Although he is not producing the numbers he typically does at this point in the season, he still attributes about 7 rebounds a game. With stats that can only go up, more space on the court with the addition of harden, DeAndre Jordan might be the only starting Net that sees their production go up post-trade.
Takeaways
Not a better big 3 in the sport.
The combo is immediately the undisputed best trio in the league, with no one really coming close. This does not make them the best team, but it did make them the favorites in the east by a landslide.
This is the softest big 3 ever assembled.
Although I agree with Harden about the Houston Rockets sucking, it really is a soft move, the way he went about getting traded.
Aside from that, KD's history with Twitter burners, and his responses to critics, have been Charmin toilet paper level, ULTRA SOFT.
And currently, it is easier to find Waldo and Carmen Sandiego making out than it is to find Kyrie, for what the nets have listed as "Personal Reasons." If by some Miracle this team is able to balance out these three drama queens, the NBA could have its hands full. This is a boiling pot of water just ready for some more, heat, while at first, it will all be fine, but add a little adversity and this bubble may burst.
The weakest part of the Brooklyn Nets is defense, obviously...
This is like daying the sky is blue, like no shit these elite scorers linking up, are better on offense than they are on defense. But this is a takeaway because the Brooklyn Nets are disproportionately bad on defense.
The Nets core group, pre-KD, and Kyrie, prided themselves on their defense and situational basketball, spearheaded by now Cavelier Jarred Allen and adding Kyrie and James Harden, is not gonna help bring the defensive dogs out.
This team is going to need to win shootouts and outscore their opponents in volume throughout the game.
Harden and Kyrie need the ball in the hands
Kyrie and James Harden work off of the dribble, which takes time. With every James harden triple move drop step after 15 seconds of dribbling, that's all time that kyrie would have the ball trying to make a play.
There simply isn't enough time in the game for these styles to coexist, unless Kyrie becomes an ultra pass first, assist happy and harden becomes a catch and shoot guy.
This is gonna be fun
If there was ever a combo of NBA superstars I'd handpick to be an NBA reality TV show, it would be these 3 drama queens. With an unbelievable talent level, on the court, the level of play will be great or implode, both are fun for me.
They always say "you never know how a team will be until they take the court" and I don't think that sentence has ever been more true for a team. With these players, this Brooklyn Nets team has 2 paths one is to league domination with multiple titles, and the other is to a very ugly, very entertaining breakup in the not so distant future.
Forecast
Aside from the questions raised above, the nets have a chance to build a team that will be etched into the history books forever. The Brooklyn nets 3-star players now all have averaged, over 27 for a bulk of their careers, this is unprecedented in the NBA.
Even in the case of the Lebron Wade Bosh super team, going into that stretch Bosh only averaged high tens, low twenties, which makes for a healthier basketball team. Having to almost guarantee, 80-100 points for the 3 stars per game, there is going to be little leftover for either the 3rd star or the rest of the teammates.
The Brooklyn Nets have time, and a long season ahead to figure out their playing style, and how the scoring will be divided. The biggest weaknesses for this team include defending, balancing the styles of play, and the personalities, as well as the task of adjusting to a new team on and off the court.
With more upside than imaginable, KD, Kyrie, and James Harden now hold the keys to the NBA castle.
It is their time to invade and dethrone King James of the West or just be another obstacle that has been overcome in his pursuit of the GOAT title.
The Nets if healthy have no excuse to not make the finals to face the Lakers in 2021.
-Sgt. Pepper
Thanks for reading, tweet me @kevinangusryan, or connect below!
Find 732 studios on all platforms here… https://linktr.ee/732studios
Go to our podcast website… https://732studios.wixsite.com/podcast
Thanks for reading, tweet me @kevinangusryan, or connect below!
Find 732 studios on all platforms here… https://linktr.ee/732studios
Go to our podcast website… https://732studios.wixsite.com/podcast
https://732studios.medium.com/james-harden-links-with-kyrie-and-kd-in-brooklyn-3ebe1ffb1c49
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