There is so much NBA history swirling around the Brooklyn Nets' potential pursuit of James Harden. A team with Kevin Durant and an All-Star, shoot-first point guard might face a choice between depth and a third star. Sound familiar?
The Nets just spent a half-decade watching the Boston Celtics build a contender with Brooklyn's own draft picks -- the downside of a win-now gamble that busts. Do they have the appetite for another?
Harden is 31; Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett turned 36 and 37, respectively, during their first season in Brooklyn. But Harden can enter free agency in two years, at age 33, and will likely request and command a long-term max contract that could age badly. Throwing everything at Harden now would build enormous pressure to win one of the next two championships.
