NBA Rumors: Nets Ready To Put Key Rotation Player on Trade Block



The Brooklyn Nets have one of the greatest scorers of this generation in Kevin Durant, and they also have James Harden, who is.. well, that's up for debate these days. But it's also impossible to underrate the value that Joe Harris brings to this team, and how desperately they've missed him since he went down due to ankle surgery.

However, a new report has surfaced that the Nets are actually considering trading Harris, if the right deal comes along. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, league sources say that Brooklyn has "expressed a surprising willingness to discuss" Harris in trade talks. 
“It’s crazy to me; he’s their only real three-and-D player,” one assistant general manager told sources. “But his name keeps popping up.”

Harris is one of the NBA's best—if not THE best—three-point shooters, with a career average of 44% from behind the arc; he's at 46.6% this season, following up a 47.5% performance last year. In fact, the Nets' 3-point shooting with and without him is drastically different:

As a team, Brooklyn was shooting 39% with Harris in the lineup, now only 31% without him.

But he's also an underrated defender, with textbook fundamentals—positioning, communicating, off-ball defense—something the Nets, as constituted, could ill-afford to give up. 

Harris is still on the shelf for several more weeks recovering from ankle surgery to remove a bone particle. 

Obviously, as Fischer notes, it would take a huge offer to pry him loose from Brooklyn, but it's equally obvious that the Nets aren't satisfied with their team as constructed, and are "eager to upgrade their roster". This is a 'championship-or-bust' season for them, as Harden can potentially become a free agent at season's end, and who knows what will become of Kyrie Irving.

Photo Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports