NBA Rumors: Joe Harris Key To Nets’ Acquisition Of Kevin Love Before 2021 Trade Deadline
After successfully forming a “Big Three” of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets don’t seem to be done upgrading their roster. Despite sacrificing a plethora of precious trade assets to bring “The Beard” to Brooklyn, there is growing speculation around the league that the Nets are eyeing to add Irving’s former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kevin Love to their roster before the 2021 trade deadline. With his ability to excel in an off-ball capacity and years of NBA Finals experience, Love’s potential arrival might make a lot of sense for the Nets.
Despite his lucrative contract and injury history, the Nets might not have to pay a king’s ransom to convince the Cavaliers to send the All-Star power forward to Brooklyn. However, it may require them to part ways with one of their starters. To match Love’s massive salary, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report believes that the Nets would have to use veteran shooting guard Joe Harris as the main trade chip in their potential deal with the Cavaliers.
“For salary-matching purposes, any deal that sends Love to the Nets would almost certainly have to include Joe Harris ($16.0 million), DeAndre Jordan ($10.3 million) or both. Given Jordan’s relationship with both Durant and Irving (and the fact that both took pay cuts for Brooklyn to sign him), Harris looks like the odd man out. The Nets can’t trade Harris until March 3, given that he re-signed with the team using bird rights to a raise of over 120 percent (four years, $75 million). On top of Harris, Brooklyn would need to include Spencer Dinwiddie’s contract ($11.4 million with a $12.3 million player option for next season) just to get close to Love’s $31.2 million number this season.”
It’s arguably hard to blame the Nets for expressing interest in Love. The recent acquisition of Harden may have already made them one of the top favorites to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the 2020-21 season, but bringing in another All-Star could widen the gap between them and other title contenders. However, swapping Harris for Love might not be the ideal move for Brooklyn before the 2021 trade deadline.
In just a few games this season, Harris has already proven that he’s a good complementary piece to the Nets’ “Big Three.” As of now, the 29-year-old shooting guard is posting solid numbers, averaging 14.4 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 48.4 percent from beyond the arc, per ESPN.
Harris has yet to earn his first All-Star recognition but compared to Love, he’s an elite three-point shooter who is three years younger and doesn’t have an injury history. Love might be an intriguing target for Brooklyn, but if it would require them to sacrifice Harris, it might be best for them to look for another target on the trade market.
