James Harden is set to make his highly anticipated Brooklyn Nets debut on Saturday against the Orlando Magic, the team announced.
The three-time scoring champion missed Friday’s practice while waiting for all players involved in the four-team trade to pass their physicals.
Harden was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. The deal reunites him with Kevin Durant, whom he played with in Oklahoma City, and pairs him with Kyrie Irving as the Nets look to build a title contender in the Eastern Conference.
While Harden will make his debut, the Nets will be without Kyrie Irving, who has missed the team’s last five games for personal reasons. Irving continues to ramp up activity before returning to action.
In eight games with the Rockets this season, Harden averaged 24.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 34.7% from deep. Harden hasn’t averaged fewer than 25 points per game since the 2011-12 campaign, his third year in the NBA and final season with the Thunder.
