James Harden has made it clear to the Rockets front office that he wants out of Houston by turning down the chance to become the first player in NBA history to make $50 million a year, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday.
After having conversations with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving about possibly joining forces in Brooklyn, Harden reportedly turned down two year, $103 million extension — which would've been added to the three years and $133 million remaining on his current deal — as he remains "focused" on being traded to the Nets.
Woj had said just yesterday that the idea of going to Brooklyn "resonated" with Harden, so the change to "focus" seems to show a shift in his thought process in the last 24 hours.
Despite the Rockets and Nets being in contact, nothing meaningful has come out of their conversations yet, per Woj.
According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, Houston remains intent on keeping Harden and is trying to rebuild the team's relationship with him, despite the reports of his discontent with the organization.
The Rockets would obviously want a massive return for Harden if they chose to trade him, and the Nets obviously want to keep Durant and Irving to create a Big 3. A package of Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and an array of picks could potentially start some movement in trade talks, but even that may not be enough.
Per SNY's Ian Begley, the support for a Harden-to-Brooklyn trade isn't universally supported by Nets players.
Adding Harden and his huge contract would put a big dent in the Nets originally expected offseason plans, like re-signing Joe Harris.