The James Harden trade, as monstrous as it was, didn’t exactly leave a bitter taste, at least to Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince who are now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The trade sent numerous pieces to different cities in the league. Of course, James Harden landed on the Brooklyn Nets, while Caris LeVert (now with the Pacers) and Victor Oladipo (Rockets) were swapped for each other. For their parts, Allen and Prince went to the Cavs.
Allen and Prince, though, aren’t mad about it. In fact, if they were in the shoes of Nets general manager Sean Marks, they would’ve done the same thing.
To hear this coming from Jarrett Allen means a lot, considering that the new Cavs big man was a fundamental building block in Brooklyn’s rebuild. During his time with the Nets, he averaged 10.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game. While those numbers don’t jump off the state sheet, they were crucial to Brooklyn’s rise to being a playoff team. He was the perfect complement to D’Angelo Russell–covering up for the former All-Star’s defensive deficiencies. Allen manned the team’s defense last year when they were without Kevin Durant for the season and Kyrie Irving for most of the campaign and playoffs.
It’s easy to say Allen is one of the main reasons Brooklyn even became a hot destination. Still, he knows that between him and James Harden, he had to go.
New Cavs swingman Taurean Prince didn’t have the same type of value for the Nets, and he knows this. Prince has always been a realist. Just take a look at his time at Baylor, when he gave the college basketball community the best quote in the history of history.
Granted, there are still plenty of people involved in the James Harden saga who aren’t as chill about things–Harden’s former teammates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins to name a few.
For the Cavs sake, it’s good to have two players on board who aren’t hung up on the past and are ready to get to work.
