There was a different vibe on the Brooklyn Nets bench on Monday night in the Barclays Center, with new star point guard Ben Simmons watching on as Seth Curry and Andre Drummond helped the Nets snap their 11-game losing streak in impressive fashion.
Bruce Brown said it all after the game, admitting that “everything just shifted after the trade deadline,” and that “everybody likes everybody.” The not-so-subtle takeaway? The James Harden situation was causing the Nets to spiral toward a lost season, but there’s new hope in Brooklyn now that he’s gone.
A stunning new report from Jake Fischer at Bleacher Report details just how dysfunctional the Nets’ relationship with Harden had become leading up to the trade deadline.
Via Bleacher Report:
“Nets personnel started telling rival team contacts of the troubling dynamic between Durant and Harden, venting during social gatherings and pregame activities. Harden’s poor conditioning didn’t help his slow adjustment to the NBA’s new foul changes. Durant and Nash wanted a free-flowing offense, which Mike D’Antoni had helped install last season, but Harden preferred his patented iso ball. Brooklyn coaches noticed Harden would roll his eyes when an after-timeout play was designed for Durant, sources said.”
According to Fisher, Durant called Nets GM Sean Marks on the morning of the trade deadline to set the Harden trade in motion.
“For weeks he had grown weary of Harden’s purported commitment to the franchise. When Harden first took to the bench with right hamstring tightness, Durant was among the Brooklyn figures who were skeptical of the injury’s severity.
By Thursday morning, Durant dialed Nets general manager Sean Marks, sources said.”
You can read the entire, expansive report here.
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