Kevin Durant avoids selecting James Harden in All-Star draft, happy Nets 'got guys who want to be part of this' in trade

Before serving as a captain in the NBA's All-Star Game Draft Thursday night, Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant said he was «happy we got guys who want to be part of this» in the blockbuster trade that saw James Harden go to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons.

Durant then made it pretty clear that he didn't want Harden on his All-Star team, either, passing on taking him with each of his seven reserve round selections of the draft — much to the amusement of the other captain, LeBron James, as well as the TNT panel refereeing the affair.

With each of those seven reserve round selections, Durant — who won't be able to play in the game, and declined to give a timetable for when he might return to the court on two different occasions when asked about it — took, in order: Devin Booker; Karl-Anthony Towns; Zach LaVine; Dejounte Murray; Khris Middleton; LaMelo Ball; and Rudy Gobert.

Since James had the second pick of the reserve round, that meant he would be left with the final player on the board. So, with his second-to-last selection, James — with the urging of Charles Barkley — took Fred VanVleet, leaving Durant with the choice of either Gobert or Harden for his final choice.

And, with the entire panel laughing besides him, Durant said he was going to value size and defense — two things not exactly en vogue in the All-Star Game — to take Gobert, meaning James wound up with Harden by default with his final pick.

All of this was playing out just hours after the Nets had completed an enormous deal that saw Harden and forward Paul Millsap go to Philadelphia in exchange for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and a pair of first round picks, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

«I'm excited for our team,»