James Harden’s latest Instagram story has NBA fans freaking out

James Harden continues to stir the Brooklyn Nets trade rumors in latest social media post.

Earlier Monday, NBA fans were treated with the news of Chris Paul’s trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Suns. If you thought that was going to be the biggest hoops story of the day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski would kindly ask you to hold his beer.

Later on in the night, Wojnarowski dropped a bombshell report that Houston Rockets star James Harden turned down a two-year contract extension that would’ve paid him more than $50 million a year, favoring a trade to the Brooklyn Nets instead.

As NBA fanatics were still reeling from the news report, Harden decided to add escalate the drama by posting a Instagram story clip of a BodyArmor bottle (whom he has an endorsement deal with), while zooming in on its cap. Does it mean cap (lies) or no cap (no lies)? We need answers, James!

Determining whether James Harden is calling the report a lie or the truth

Harden knew what he was doing by uploading that 15-second clip. His teammate, Russell Westbrook, posted a video of him drinking wine after Shams Charania’s report of him demanding a trade off the Rockets this past week.

Wojnarowski reports that the Rockets offered Harden a two-year, $103 million contract extension that would’ve been added to the three years and $133 million remaining on his current deal. Harden turned it down because he feels that Houston’s championship window has closed entering the 2020-21 season and that his best shot at winning an NBA title is with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.

In fact, a source told Wojnarowski that this was his “Anthony Davis moment.” Davis forced a trade away from the New Orleans Pelicans last year to chase a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. That strategy paid off, as Davis and the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals last month.

While Harden wants out, moving him to Brooklyn is going to be a challenge. Both teams have contacted one another, but conversations didn’t go anywhere. No doubt they will wait to receive a huge trade package of players and draft capital before willingly trading their superstar. And if they have to wait, they will, because Harden can’t officially hit the open market until he opts out after the 2021-22 campaign. Again, that’s if he truly wants out of H-Town.

It’s not a true NBA offseason without drama, and Harden’s cryptic message filled that void.