Nets general manager Sean Marks is confident Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden will jell as they work toward a “common goal.”
Questions have been asked about whether the three stars can work together, but Marks sounded convinced that they will.
“These guys have given us the right answers. They’ve said, hey, they want to play together, they can see this fitting,” Marks told a news conference Thursday after the Nets confirmed they had completed Harden from the Rockets in a blockbuster four-team trade.
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“They’re at a time in their careers — I don’t want to speak for each one of them because I let them have their own their own voice and their narrative around this — but I think they understand that there’s without a doubt going to be some nights where one or two need to sacrifice for the other and so forth. But I think they’re all looking for a common goal.
“We’re all looking for that common goal, as I’ve said before, is to be the last team standing. I think when you have a group that is willing to sacrifice and play hard, play together on the court, and they already have a relationship, a prior relationship to this, so I think that will help.”
Harden, Durant and Irving all rank in the top 10 in the NBA in scoring average since the latter’s rookie season in 2011-12 (minimum 500 games).
Durant or Harden have won seven of the past 11 NBA scoring titles. No Brooklyn qualifier has ever finished higher than fifth in the league.
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Marks said the opportunity to land a player like Harden came at a good time for the Nets.
“The timing was right for us. And fortunately, any time you get an opportunity to acquire or try to acquire a player of this caliber it’s something you do look hard at [and] is something we did,” he said.
“The process sped up very, very rapidly and very quickly over the last 48 hours.”
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