The already shorthanded Brooklyn Nets lost another star on Saturday. James Harden has been playing through a sore right hand in recent days. The injury ultimately forced Harden to miss the Nets loss at the Golden State Warriors, due to what the team is calling a strained right hand.

Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said he didn't know what Harden's status would be for the Nets game at the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Nash said Harden thought the injury was nothing to be worried about.

"Then it really flared up this morning when he woke up. Obviously irritated but what he was feeling (Friday) and (Saturday) morning he woke up with some irritation, so he had a scan.”

Already down Kevin Durant and Joe Harris, and now Harden, Brooklyn also lost LaMarcus Aldridge during the game to a sprained ankle. Kyrie Irving scored 32 points, but the Nets fell to the Warriors and dropped to sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Despite recent reporting that the Brooklyn Nets won't entertain a James Harden trade before next month's deadline, speculation continues that Harden will join the Philadelphia 76ers as soon as this offseason. And the reasons for that are starting to stray into tampering and collusion territory.

Harden is known to be close friends with Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin. Rival front offices believe that the two have been talking about Harden joining Philadelphia as a free agent this offseason. And those teams are prepared to ask the NBA to look into possible tampering and collusion on the part of Harden, Rubin and the 76ers.

Harden's future in Brooklyn has been under question since he did not sign an extension earlier this past offseason. With a player option for the 2022-23 season, Harden has a great deal of flexibility with his next contract. He could opt in and sign an extension with the Nets, or he could opt out and sign a new five-year contract with Brooklyn. Harden could also opt out and look for a sign-and-trade to a new team, including Philadelphia.

The Brooklyn Nets won't entertain trade deadline offers on James Harden, sources told ESPN. The resolve is rooted in repeated assurances from Harden to ownership and management that he's committed to staying and winning a tile with the franchise.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been connected to Harden, but they have yet to make the Nets a trade offer ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline.

Harden didn't sign an extension in the preseason, pushing a decision to the summer of 2022. To stay with the Nets on a long-term deal, Harden could opt-in on his $47.4 million contract for 2022-23 and sign a four-year, $223 million extension at the start of free agency. Harden would earn $61.7 million in the last year of the deal, becoming the first player to surpass $60 million in a single season.

Harden could opt-out to become a free agent and sign elsewhere, or the Nets could agree to a trade contingent on his opt-in. 

Kevin Durant will likely miss the All-Star Game as he recovers from an MCL sprain. Durant sustained the injury on January 15th. Durant missed last year's game due to a hamstring strain, as well as the 2020 game due to his Achilles rehabilitation. Durant last played in an All-Star Game in 2019.

The Nets announced the injury, but did not give a timetable for his return.

Durant is averaging 29.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season.

Durant will likely be the leading vote-getter in the Eastern Conference. 

James Harden was asked to comment a report from Bleacher Report that detailed some of his frustrations with the Brooklyn Nets and his openness to consider other teams in free agency. Harden has reportedly been frustrated by Kyrie Irving's status as a part time player, as well as Steve Nash's rotations and even life off the court in Brooklyn. 

“Talking about reports. I don’t know about any reports. Did you guys hear it from me?” Harden asked rhetorically after recording a triple-double in the Nets’ 106-96 loss to the Lakers. When pressed on the specifics — cold, high taxes, inconsistent rotations — Harden said, “I don’t know about any reports. Of course I’m frustrated, because we’re not healthy, there’s a lot of inconsistencies for whatever reason: injuries, COVID, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, it’s frustrating.

“I think everyone in this organization is frustrated, because we’re better than what our record is and we should be on the way up. That’s all it is. I don’t know anything about any reports. If you didn’t hear it from me. … I don’t talk to nobody. I have an agent. If you don’t hear it from me, then it’s ‘reports.’ So I’m frustrated because I want to win and I’m a competitor. It’s pretty simple.”

James Harden recently informed several confidants of his interest in exploring opportunities outside the Brooklyn Nets when he can become a free agent this offseason.

Harden could eventually re-sign with the Nets even if he does have clear intentions of becoming a free agent for the first time.

"James isn't going to hold back," said a person familiar with Harden. "He's gonna tell you where he stands."

Harden has been frustrated by the status of Kyrie Irving as a part time player due to his status as an unvaccinated individual. 

Steve Nash's fluid rotation have also disappointed Harden. 

Harden has also not enjoyed living in Brooklyn compared to his days in Houston.

The Philadelphia 76ers are a logical potential destination for Harden, but a trade before the deadline is highly unlikely. Harden could be a target in a sign-and-trade this offseason involving Ben Simmons.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been taking trade calls on Ben Simmons since the summer. Daryl Morey set a high asking price for his talented jack-of-all-trades player and hasn't moved off of it. But now, rival teams think Morey has an ulterior motive.

The Sixers appear content to wait on trading Simmons in hopes they can use him to acquire James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets this summer.

Last season, before Harden was traded to the Nets, the 76ers were engaged in trade talks involving Simmons to acquire Harden from the Houston Rockets. Ultimately, Houston owner Tillman Fertitta allowed Harden to pick between Brooklyn and Philadelphia and Harden chose the Nets.

Despite that choice, Harden did not ink an extension with Brooklyn this offseason. It's widely expected he'll opt out of his current deal this summer to pursue a long-term maximum contract. That's when Morey and the Sixers hope to get involved in a sign-and-trade package for Harden that involves Simmons.

Sources say Morey has the full support of ownership to take this situation beyond the deadline and into the offseason.

If the 76ers are unable to acquire Harden, they'll pursue Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal or Jaylen Brown.

The NBA fined the Brooklyn Nets $25,000 and assistant coach David Vanterpool $10,000 for interfering with a ball in play. The incident happened midway through the fourth quarter of the Nets victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.

Vanterpool was gesturing on the sideline and deflected a pass thrown by Washington. It ended up in a live-ball turnover with Brooklyn gaining possession.

Following the game, lead official Ben Taylor said that neither he nor his crew saw the deflection live. Because there was no stoppage of play, there was no opportunity to review what happened.

Paul Millsap and the Brooklyn Nets have agreed to find a trade as has fallen out of their rotation entirely. The Nets will try to find a team where he would have a greater role.

Millsap has only played in two of Brooklyn's last 17 games.

Millsap chose to sign with the Nets during the offseason after also receiving interest from the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls.

Kyrie Irving was asked following the Brooklyn Nets loss at the Cleveland Cavaliers if the injury to Kevin Durant has made him change his mind about getting vaccinated. Irving's status as an unvaccinated player makes him ineligible to play in home games for the Nets. Irving made it clear that there is nothing that will change his mind on getting vaccinated.

"It's not going to be swayed just because of one thing in this NBA life. That somehow, it's brought to my attention as being more important than what's going on in the real world. It's just not happening for me. Again, I respect everyone else's decision, I'm not going to ever try to convince anyone of anything or any of that, I'm just standing rooted in what I believe in," Irving said. "And though we're dealing with this right now with Kev, I just know that I'm protected by the organization, I'm protected by my teammates, I'm protected by all the doctors I've talked to. And I just stand rooted."

Irving later said he doesn't like that those questioning his decision to be unvaccinated do so in terms of his professional life and not his personal life.

"You're bringing my vaccination status into a basketball game, and I live my life, the majority of the time, when I'm away from this. So, when I say I'm not getting vaccinated and I'm making a choice with my life, somehow it gets mixed into, 'Well, what about the basketball?' When it's like no, bro. We live in a real world," Irving said. "It's great to be able to do this. I'm grateful for the opportunity. I love being with my teammates. I love playing on the Nets, but I've already been away enough time to think about this, to process it, to be able to make this decision, stand strong, understand that people are gonna agree and some people are gonna disagree."