The Brooklyn Nets had to offer a lot to land James Harden.
And the Houston Rockets apparently expected the Boston Celtics to do the same if they wanted in on the sweepstakes.
The Nets parted with Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Rodions Kurucs, in addition to a whole bunch of draft picks, to acquire Harden on Wednesday. And though Danny Ainge explained Thursday the Celtics ultimately elected not to aggressively pursue Harden, the Rockets’ demands for the 2018 NBA MVP reportedly were huge.
A league source told Boston Sports Journal’s Brian Robb that the Rockets’ asking price in talks with the Celtics included Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and draft compensation.
That’s not a surprising package the Rockets were desiring. At minimum, it would be necessary in order to make the money work.
But a report Wednesday indicated that moving Brown was a non-starter for the Celtics. So, it sounds like a Harden-to-Boston blockbuster never was going to happen.
