Video: KD and Harden miss playing with each other

As part of the Nike #SummerIsSerious thing, Kevin Durant and James Harden — who are GMs of their pickup teams — stopped by Grantland to do a couple videos breaking down their rosters.

But with Harden right there, do you really expect Bill Simmons to not discuss the trade with them?

As Harden described the trade happened with what seemed like to be a snap of the fingers. Instantly, one of the funnest, most exciting rosters in the league was broken up. It seemed unfathomable this time last year that Harden wouldn’t be part of the Thunder, and in some ways, it still doesn’t feel right.

Here’s what KD said about it:

“It was difficult, me and James we became close ever since he got drafted. And like you said, for it to happen so quickly, it was a change for all of us. Not just our team, but our fans in Oklahoma City. I’d walk down the street and they would feel so upset that James was gone. But that’s how close we were as a team and that’s how close our city was to our team.”

(I mentioned this in yesterday’s links, but want to add it here: I happened across a post this week wondering last August if trading Harden made sense. And within that is a blockquote from Zach Lowe who listed out a few trade ideas, one being almost identical to the one the Thunder got. Look at some of those trades listed. Lou Williams and picks. J.J. Redick and picks. Mike Dunleavy and a young player. Point being, Harden didn’t have nearly the same kind of trade value then that we now know he should’ve. People kill the Thunder for what they got in return, but judging on what the market looked like for Harden at the time, it might’ve truly been the best deal available.)

Another interesting thing, Durant said about Harden: “I think he’s the best guard in the league right now.”

I’m assuming he meant “shooting guard” because a) Russell Westbrook is better and b) Westbrook is still currently KD’s teammate.

Here are the videos of Harden and KD breaking down their rosters: