All James Harden wanted was a real chance, and in Brooklyn, he has one

For James Harden, the road to Brooklyn began in Orlando.

The latest, greatest iteration of the Houston Rockets made it to the second round of the playoffs on the backs of Harden and his star teammate Russell Westbrook. That iteration, much like every previous version of the Harden-led Rockets, fell short to LeBron James’s Lakers in five games.

Harden said he gave it time, but in Houston, there was a problem: Things were falling apart. Rockets GM Daryl Morey said he wanted to spend more time with family, then signed a deal in Philadelphia. Head coach Mike D’Antoni left, too, joining the Nets as rookie coach Steve Nash’s offensive coordinator.

The Rockets scrambled to appease Harden, trading Russell Westbrook for John Wall, signing DeMarcus Cousins, and adding young, talented forward Christian Wood to the fold. Harden, as he voiced in his last press conference as a Rocket, was not sold. He wanted to win a championship, and did not believe he could do so with the team surrounding him in Houston.

“Re-evaluating our personnel and seeing if we had enough to compete with the best teams in this league… I felt like we didn’t have a chance,” Harden reiterated in his first press conference as a member of the Nets. The Rockets offered him an additional two years worth $100 million to stay, but he turned it down. “As much as I love the city of Houston, loved being there, I think at this point in my career, it’s not about money, it’s not about anything else but having a chance to reach that ultimate goal: winning at the highest level.”

Harden now likes his chances as a member of the Nets, having forced his way to Brooklyn in a trade that took three first-round picks, four pick swaps, Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and Rodions Kurucs from the Nets. He is now the third head of what is — at least on paper — one of the greatest offensive trios in NBA history.

Harden was surrounded with talent in the past. He played with Westbrook, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, yet never took Houston to the NBA Finals. He made it to the conference finals twice and was ousted in the first and second rounds three times.

That projects to change.

On one side, he’ll have Kevin Durant. On the other — whenever he returns from his personal leave — he’ll have Kyrie Irving. In-between those superstars, he’ll have shooters Joe Harris, Landry Shamet and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, front court pieces DeAndre Jordan and Jeff Green, and tough-nosed defender and play-maker Bruce Brown.

He’ll also have GM Sean Marks, who openly decreed he is not done making changes to the roster — which has three open spots.

Then, of course, there’s Harden himself: one of the greatest offense-generating machines the league has ever seen.

“You just look at this entire roster, and it’s built for any style of basketball you want,” he said. “And then the coaching staff who knows the game of basketball at a high level. You just add that all together and it’s like, that’s a legit chance right there. It was a no-brainer for me.”

Adding Harden was also a no-brainer for the Nets, as it should have been (and as I have written): When a player of Harden’s stature becomes available on the trade market, you move heaven and earth to get him. Marks did just that, mortgaging the franchise’s future even though he said he wouldn’t, to pair three of the most explosive offensive talents who double as explosive personalities.

The old buzzword in Brooklyn was “culture,” but now it’s “sacrifice.” And the Nets sacrificed their culture in pursuit of a championship.

The old days of incremental progress went out the door with D’Angelo Russell and Kenny Atkinson. The Irving and Durant acquisition ushered in an in-between era of uncertainty: The Nets surely were not going to keep their roster as it was constructed in-between Harden trade discussions. It was the NBA’s worst-kept secret; Players knew the clock was ticking, they just didn’t know when the alarm would ring.

That alarm blared Wednesday evening and was made official when the paperwork went through on Thursday. Harden became a Brooklyn Net.

He’ll likely be available for Saturday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic (if the other players involved pass their physicals).

The Nets listed Irving as out for Saturday’s game in observance of the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocol.

The Nets’ three stars played key roles in various superstar trios — Irving with LeBron James and Kevin Love in Cleveland and with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston; Harden and Durant with Westbrook in Oklahoma City — but this time, it’s different.

These are three of the most elite individual offensive talents in NBA history, superstar players and egos used to having their cake and eating it, too. Some changes will have to be made, specifically for Harden, who has been ranked at or near the top of the league in usage rate ever since OKC traded him to Houston.

“Yeah, it’s going to be an adjustment for him,” head coach Steve Nash said on Friday. “He’s played the same role for many years now, the same way, the same style. So, he’ll be able to emulate that in some ways, but in other ways, he’s going to have to adapt to playing with other guys, namely Kevin and Ky. … It’s something I think he’s incredibly excited about. He realizes he’s in a fortunate opportunity to be able to play with those guys, and they feel the same way about him. So, I think everyone’s motives are on track, and at the same time, we have to figure this thing out as we go here.”

Harden is not concerned with speculation about his defense or his conditioning. Asked about his physical shape, he said “great” with a smile. Asked about what facet of his game can help the Nets most, Harden said, “my playmaking ability.”

Harden is a scoring machine who has led the league averaging about 35 PPG over each of his past two seasons. He is also one of the league’s best passers — which was why the Rockets felt comfortable building an entire offensive around him.

“We have two elite scorers that the world knows already,” Harden said. “My job is to come out here and obviously score the basketball when needed, but my playmaking ability as far as getting our shooters shots and our bigs finishes around the rim and making the entire team better, I think that’s one aspect of my game that will excel in this offense.

“As long as I’m making my teammates better, it doesn’t matter about the points. I think everybody knows I can score the ball at a high clip, and that’s where the sacrifice comes in at.”

There’s no guarantee what the Nets have will be enough to win it all. Given the cost to land Harden, it would be a disappointment and failure if they fall short of the NBA Finals. The Nets are 12 games in and have now blasted whatever chemistry was building by trading two key players for the former MVP. And in this condensed 72-game season, there is little-to-no formal practice time in-between games.

“It’s not a guarantee that me coming to Brooklyn is guaranteeing a title, but I think, for me, giving myself a chance is very, very important,” Harden said. “At this stage of my career, it’s giving myself a chance to do something that I haven’t accomplished yet in this league.

“That’s the situation that I’m in, and that’s why I’m here in Brooklyn. I’m excited for the new opportunity. Obviously we know it’s not easy. It’s not going to be easy at all. With this roster and this coaching staff and this organization, I think we have a legit chance.”

Of the 30 NBA teams, only a handful have a realistic chance at winning it all. The Rockets aren’t part of that handful, but the Nets are.