James Harden employed a risky strategy, that worked.

Since the start of this NBA season the Houston Rockets star made it clear through his words, his actions, and facial expressions he didn’t want to be in Houston anymore. He showed up late for training camp. Picked fights with teammates, moped, loafed and essentially had a bad attitude from the jump.

Couple that with the fact the Rockets are terrible this season, limping out of the gate with a 3-6 record, and he essentially bailed on his teammates in a game with the Lakers on Tuesday night.

His desire was to be traded, specifically to the Brooklyn Nets. At first Houston refused to give in, and seemed content paying Harden his $38 million for him to coast through the season, but Wednesday they had enough, trading him to the Nets in a blockbuster deal involved four teams.

The bottom line is the Rockets will not be a contender again for a very long time, but they seem to be okay with that, as they receive three first round picks from Brooklyn, plus a first round pick from Cleveland and a second round pick from Indiana.

The Nets add a borderline head case in Harden, to a bonafide head case in Kyrie Irving, along with Kevin Durant, one of the greatest players in league history.

The Nets instantly made themselves the most interesting team in the league, and with new head coach Steve Nash, they will be exciting, volatile and capable of winning a championship.

That’s if everything falls in place, Harden becomes a committed team player and Irving actually starts showing up for games again.

In other words, the Nets have zero chance of winning a title this season but they will be fun to watch.

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