Given his recent hiatus from the team, some thought the Nets could include Kyrie Irving in a trade package for James Harden.
Irving was not included in the megadeal that sent Harden to Brooklyn on Wednesday, and the Nets now, on paper, undoubtedly have the NBA’s best “big three.” But even if the star point guard was made available, the Rockets reportedly would not have been interested.
“I know that the Rockets wanted nothing to do with Kyrie coming back in the deal,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said Wednesday on the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast.
In trying to acquire the best haul possible in exchange for Harden, it makes sense why the Rockets reportedly wanted to stay away from Irving. The 28-year-old has become a total wild card. He reportedly is “furious” with the Nets’ current situation and isn’t answering calls from the team. And at this point, Irving never playing another NBA game probably can’t be entirely ruled out.
With Harden now out of the picture, the Rockets are building toward the future. They are set up nicely to do so with the four unprotected first-round picks and four pick swaps they acquired in Wednesday’s blockbuster. Victor Oladipo, a relative afterthought in the trade, also is a nice short-term addition.
Irving probably would not have been worth the risk for Houston and potentially could have hampered the Rockets’ rebuild had he been acquired.
