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(Reuters) – Coach Mike D’Antoni and general manager Daryl Morey left the Houston Rockets after last season. Starguard James Harden could be the next to walk out the door.
Harden turned down Houston’s offer of a contract that would pay him an NBA-record $ 50 million per season, and is instead looking to engineer a trade that would send him to the Brooklyn Nets, ESPN reported Monday.
According to the report, Harden rejected a two-year, $ 103 million extension beyond the existing three years and $ 133 million on his contract. He is reportedly in contact with Nets forward Kevin Durant and point guard Kyrie Irving in hopes of forming a Big Three in Brooklyn.
However, there has been no “meaningful dialogue” between the Nets and Rockets about a deal with Harden, according to ESPN.
D’Antoni parted ways with the Rockets in September after the team lost to eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Morey resigned as general manager of the Rockets on October 15, two weeks before the club hired Stephen Silas as its new head coach. The New York Times reported that Harden had wanted the team to hire either Tyronn Lue or John Lucas as a replacement for D’Antoni.
Harden, 31, is an eight-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA who has led the NBA in scoring in each of the last three seasons. In 2019-20, he averaged 34.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 68 games.
He has reached the NBA Finals once (playing alongside Durant for the 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder) and the Western Conference Finals three other times, but he has yet to win a championship.
Durant, 32, will return in 2020-21 after missing all of last season due to a torn Achilles tendon. He has two championship rings from his time with the Golden State Warriors, twice winning the MVP of the NBA Finals.
Irving, 28, joined the Nets last season after stints in Cleveland and Boston. He was a key part of the Cavaliers’ 2015-16 championship team alongside LeBron James.
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