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At least publicly, the James Harden trade talks have quieted down of late.
The first few days after the NBA trade moratorium ended, as well as the day before, were something else. However, since free agency began, there hasn’t been any sign of progress toward Harden getting out of Houston.
ESPN analyst Jay Williams thinks that can only last so long.
During his appearance on ESPN New York’s Bart and Hahn, Williams was asked if Harden will still be wearing a Rockets uniform by the end of the 2020-21 NBA season.
“Hell no,” Williams said.
When asked if Harden would join the Nets in 2020-21, Williams had a bit more to say.
“There’s a high probability of that. I think there’s a high probability,” he said on Bart and Hahn. “Houston’s gonna have a really interesting situation. How long can you hold onto a disgruntled employee, who is a star, who is going to have a microphone in their face after [every game]? … James Harden is going to be open and critical about how he doesn’t wanna be there. When your a star player is gonna be doing that, you as a franchise — if he starts doing that, teams are gonna be like, ‘Well, he doesn’t wanna be there.’ It’s going to make you lose the value in what you can get in return ’cause teams know that your star player doesn’t wanna be there. You can’t hold him hostage.”