Steve Nash, Kevin Durant and James Harden have imagined the possibilities for the Nets, how lethal they can be when Kyrie Irving returns from his personal leave.
Wednesday in Cleveland, it is expected to become a reality, and Irving sounded just as eager as his coach and superstar teammates to see what the three in-their-prime perennial All-Stars can do together.
“It’s very exciting just to have James here,” he said over Zoom on Tuesday in his first public comments since stepping away. “It’s just really exciting, just to be able to play with great players that have just been here in the league for awhile, have been through ups and downs, the peaks and valleys.
“So you know James is aligned with us in terms of just experience, and adding that to our locker room is going to be great for us.”
After averaging 27.1 points and 6.1 assists in seven games, Irving missed the next seven contests. While he was away, the Nets landed Harden from the Rockets in a three-team deal.
Since Harden joined the Nets, they are 2-0, with victories over the Magic and the Bucks, one of their chief competitors in the Eastern Conference. Harden averaged 33 points and 13 assists in the wins, while Durant produced 42 points against the Magic and 30 more in the victory over the Bucks.
Now Brooklyn is adding Irving to the mix, creating a trio of elite scorers with 24 combined All-Star Game appearances among them. It could take time for the three players to get comfortable playing with one another, Nash warned. While Harden and Durant could lean on their past experience playing together with the Thunder, this will be new for Irving, playing with another ball-dominant player such as Harden.
“It’s hard to build chemistry without playing, and we’re not playing in practice. So the chemistry is going to be formed on the floor during games,” Nash said. “It’s going to take some time. But we’re excited about the possibilities, and it was great to have him out on the floor and to have Ky back in the building.”
Nash was vague about what to expect from a minutes standpoint for Irving on Wednesday, noting it will have been 15 days since his last game. It will likely be determined by how his body is feeling and how the game is going. Tuesday was an important step — Irving was back on the practice floor — and Wednesday will be an even bigger one.