So I'm curious from what you've heard.

How did this come together?

How do we get to the finish line on Hardened to the Nets?

Yeah.

You know, obviously that there have been discussions for months now, and Harden ended up getting his wish.

He wanted to go to Brooklyn, and ultimately it came down to the really historic draft compensation that the Nets were willing to put on the table.

And then And that's something that didn't develop until the last few days.

I'm not sure if that if that was totally on the table, even until today, and you know, you would have to think the uncertainty with Kyrie Urban situation influence the Nets Because look, Kevin Durant.

Whether he's coming off an Achilles or not is a historic, you know, he's an n b A legend in his prime.

If you have Kevin Durant, you have a chance to championship.

And so you've got to put star power alongside them.

They had the chance to go get James Harden.

They went all in.

They pounced on that opportunity.

Ah, and look, this could be painful on on the backside.

When you're talking about completely unprotected four picks plus four unprotected draft swaps, there's there's a chance that this could be painful for the Nets long after Durant and Harden.

Prime is over.

But they've got a championship window now and then they're going to try to seize that opportunity.

ESPN Tim MacMahon here with us on Chenango Ginger on the Goodyear Hotline, our own ESPN MBA reporter and Tim Kudos to you because you've been following the saga, the soap opera The Young and the Restless happening in Houston and you know me.

I'm from Houston, so I've really followed this with a fine tooth comb.

And I'm just curious because the GM Rafael Stone he's really been thrown in the line of fire in the sense that you have a disgruntled superstar and you have to deliver on making sure the franchise has good foundation moving forward.

How would you evaluate Houston's position moving forward here?

Well, obviously, this is entering a rebuilding period for the Rockets, and you know they've got a chance to kind of see what they what they have now in Victor Oladipo, who have this thing spanning a 14 deal, he ends up in Houston.

Obviously, the guy did an all star, uh, coming off of serious injuries.

Sohail, you know, if they're right in there with John Wall to market, because I guess but I think is important.

Anything is he's an expiring contracts.

So maybe he gets traded again before the deadline in late March.

Um, you know, maybe it's a situation where that salary just comes off.

The books and rockets were able to, You know, if you're not gonna be good, you don't wanna be expensive.

And so I think that in and of itself could have made Old Depot more attractive to the Rockets and caress Liberte.

Who?

I think the potential, uh, you know, maybe it's similar, but Liberte iso 36 plus bill over the next two years beyond this season.

Um, and look, the Rockets gave up a ton of picks.

You know, two picks to swaps to get Russell Westbrook's.

They really When?

When what fell?

Stone took over.

He was at a huge pick deficit.

And now, in deals that he's made, um, you know, they've really stocked up on draft picks going back to the Covington deal with the the Covington deal with the Blazers.

You know, they got a protected pick back for Russell Westbrook.

And now, obviously this this trade is all about stocking up on draft picks.

John Angle Junior here on ESPN radio, talking to ESPN MBA reporter Tim MacMahon and Tim.

You mentioned the long term futures here.

When we look back on this, though, the things that led up to James Harden ultimately getting his way out of Houston.

What are you going to see as the breaking point for all of this?

Where it was no coming back from what had gone on the relationship between Harden and the Rockets?

You know, really, I think when when you look at kind of what went wrong to lead to the end of James Harden, the James Harden era, the Beard era in Houston, it's the Russell Westbrook trade.

That was the thing that on Harden was absolutely a driving force in that, you know, Tilman Fertitta, the owner, was also on board with it.

He thought that Chris Paul was with a terrible contract.

Um, they went all in on it, and then, you know, the old pals getting back together.

Heart and Westbrook didn't work out.

And, you know, after a season together, they both wanted out on DSO.

It's that trade, that kind of to me really led to the closing of that chapter of the hardened chapter in Houston.

And once James Harden made up his mind this offseason that look, the Rockets aren't going to be able to compete for a championship.

It was just a matter of time.

It was a matter of time it would really went and where, because it was not going to work out in Houston long term when he clearly did not want to be there.

And, you know, whether you like it or not, he made it absolutely, painfully clear.

Uh, you know, going back even before training camp started holding out of training camp and some of the antics that he's pulled during the season, you know, leading up to last night, he made it painfully clear that he wasn't going to change his mind.

Uh, ESPN's Tim McMann joining us, talking about James Harden, now being a member of the Brooklyn Nets and Tim, you know, it's really interesting when we think about the synergies with Brooklyn, especially now, with James Harden being there and Steve Nash being the first year coach but also relating to the players because he was one of the greatest players and they sort of respect him.

But I have a question here.

Do you think that those personalities the Big Three in Brooklyn, which I saw you know, New York?

They called it the unit.

I've already seen the memes have any social media, but the unit, uh, Kyrie, K D.

And James Harden knowing the personalities and you followed James Harden's personality.

How do you see that working out It will be absolutely fascinating.

I put it to you that way.

Um, I think history shows that pairing Harden at least since he's become a face of a franchise since the trade of Houston pairing Harden with a with another star.

There's an expiration date on that, um, you know, obviously the big question is how many, Uh, how are they gonna give you up shots?

How they're gonna give you up?

Who's that?

The ball in their hands and all that.

But really, I I think a massive question that I don't know the answer to and I'm not sure anybody with the Nets knows Answer to is when will Kyrie actually be a part of this?

Will Kyrie be a part of this?

I think the uncertainty with Kyrie, uh, might have influenced the Nets decision to go all in on hard because you at least want to have one, uh, superstar to pair Kevin Durant with.

And you know, whether Kyrie decided to come back and play basketball or not.

I think it's pretty clear that you cannot count on Kyrie Urban.

Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.

Subscribe to ESPN, plus.