Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 1-22-21

Sports
James Harden Traded To Nets From Rockets In Blockbuster Deal
Anthony Davis
James Harden has fi- nally forced his way out of Houston, and the former MVP is heading to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Rockets have agreed to a deal with the Nets that will send Harden to Brook- lyn. ESPN’s Adrian Woj- narowski reports that the Cleveland Cavaliers are also involved in the trade.
Houston had reportedly been seeking a package of first-round picks in addition to a young franchise corner- stone. While they did not land an All-Star, they did re- ceive a massive haul of first- round picks and a solid player in Caris LeVert. They then flipped LeVert to the Indiana Pacers for Vic- tor Oladipo.
Stephen
A. Smith Calls On Kyrie Irving To Retire
STEPHEN A. SMITH
Kyrie Irving has been away from the Brooklyn Nets since last week for “personal reasons,” and Stephen A. Smith believes the star point guard should consider mak- ing the absence permanent.
During last Wednesday morning’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” Smith called for Irving to retire from the NBA. Smith indicated he be- lieves the only reason Irving hasn’t quit playing is that he wants to collect his paycheck.
“I think Kyrie Irving should retire. I think he should announce his retire- ment today,” Smith said. “Clearly, you don’t want to play basketball bad enough. ... Kyrie Irving has not priori- tized basketball. I’m not say- ing he doesn’t want to play altogether, I’m saying he has- n’t prioritized it. How fair is that to the Brooklyn Nets?”
Nets’ Big Trade
Shares Thoughts On
Victor Oladipo Does Not Want To Remain With Rockets
ANTHONY DAVIS
last season, reacted to the Nets’ trade. He acknowledged they “look good on paper,” but he wants to see how they will look once they actually begin playing.
JAMES HARDEN
The Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday made a huge move by acquiring James Harden in a trade.
The possibility of having Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the court at the same time makes the Nets a possible power- house in the Eastern Confer- ence, and perhaps the biggest threat to the defending cham- pion Los Angeles Lakers. An- thony Davis does not sound too worried though.
Davis, who helped the Lakers win the championship
The Houston Rockets traded away one player who did not want to be there, and they may have acquired an- other one who doesn’t either.
The Rockets initially re- ceived Caris LeVert as part of their trade of James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. However, Houston traded LeVert to Indiana for Victor Oladipo.
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reports that Oladipo does not want to be in Houston. O’Connor says Oladipo hopes to end up in Miami.
Oladipo will be a free agent after the season. If he is
Kyrie Irving Is
VICTOR OLADIPO
set on getting to Miami or playing elsewhere he prefers, then that means Houston would get less than a season of him. That also means that Houston’s return for Harden might depend on what they turn the draft picks into, un- less they also decide to flip Oladipo.
Reportedly Furious
With Nets Organization
The Brooklyn Nets have a new superstar guard in James Harden, but they still have some issues to solve with their incumbent one.
Tommy Dee of Sport- sNet New York reported on Wednesday that Kyrie Irv- ing has been furious at the Nets organization for some time. Irving had allegedly wanted more input in the head coach hiring process and was supposedly not in favor of Steve Nash. Dee also says Irving’s relationship with Kevin Durant has been de- scribed as “fairly distant” re- cently.
Dee also referred to the Harden trade as an insur- ance policy for the Nets against Irving.
What we do know for cer- tain is that Irving is still away from the team. He has not played since Jan. 5 due to “personal” reasons. Since his
KYRIE IRVING
departure, the six-time All- Star has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Irving was recently spotted at an un- sanctioned indoor party, launching a league investiga- tion. He also appeared on a politician’s Zoom call right around the time that the Nets were about to play a game.
The blockbuster trade for Harden is obviously a huge get for the Nets. But it will not magically fix the team if they don’t work things out with Irving first.
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