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James Harden TRADED to Rockets

38K views 694 replies 62 participants last post by  kbdullah 
#1 ·
James Harden turned down a four-year, $52 million contract extension offer from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Harden is seeking a maximum-level deal worth $60 million over four years.

The Thunder have until Wednesday to sign Harden to a contract extension or allow him the opportunity to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports
 
#91 ·
Re: OFFICIAL: OKC sends James Harden to Houston for Kevin Martin, Lamb, picks galore

1-3 and 15-30 protected.
How does that work?

15-30 protected
 
#95 ·
Re: OFFICIAL: OKC sends James Harden to Houston for Kevin Martin, Lamb, picks galore

Like it for both teams. People forget Houston was in playoff position last year before they got done over by injuries to Martin and some other guys. Martin was going to walk in the offseason anyway, and still might, and they got a high-profile guy in Harden who will help change Houston's image as an undesirable place to play. Lamb plus picks and the worthy expiring is fair. Biggest concern for Rockets would be the contract given to Harden.

I definitely agree Harden's playmaking will be missed -is Maynor healthy again? But the Thunder have Durant Westbrook Ibaka locked up plus a full cupboard of Lamb, Perry Jones, and picks. Can't be mad at that.
 
#101 ·
love this deal for okc.. i like lamb alot and he could easily fill that harden roll, plus the firsts...great deal
Agreed. I'm not sure Lamb turns into as good a player as Harden will show as the Rockets #1, but I think he'll be more than able to come in as the primary scorer off the bench.

OKC has a lot of weapons that can also fill in for the shots Harden was taking, and its not like he added much of anything on defense. The people saying how much they'll miss Harden will be surprised.
 
#103 ·
Presti worked Morey like a sock puppet - Martin can fill the scoring 6th man role this season, Lamb could develop into that role over the next couple years, the lotto pick will be worth something - the thunder are deeper and better off financially for a longer period - didnt really hurt themselves that badly short term and did themselves a world of good long term

btw Harden strikes me as a little chokey and not just because of his spotty finals performance
 
#104 ·
So Harden for Martin in itself is a decent return for Harden. On top of that, they get two lotto picks?! Houston has made some fantastic trades this offseason if its goal is to become the worst team in the league. They have two possibly very good players and a whole lotta bad.
 
#105 ·
I think this makes sense for both sides. Thunder were going to struggle to keep Harden going forward and they filled the role with an efficient scorer, a young guard prospect, and picks. I think having Harden is a better situation than having Kevin Martin/Jeremy Lamb this season, but this is a business and things like this need to happen if both sides don't want the same things.

As for the Rockets, I don't know if it's a perfect move but they are manufacturing their own star power and I definitely appreciate that. Jeremy Lin/James Harden is a very interesting backcourt duo, and my initial reaction to the thought is positive. I want to see it before I say anything definitively, but the Rockets have positioned themselves to be a much better team this year and going forward with what they've done this past offseason.
 
#106 ·
I always thought signed draft picks couldn't be traded until Dec. 15, same as offseason free agents. Something that was eliminated in the new CBA, I assume.

In the one preseason game I saw of Jeremy Lamb, he looked like just a guy, but it wouldn't surprise me if he turned into something in Oklahoma City. Just how it always seems to work out.

Martin's a selfish player and not the creator that Harden is. Entering a contract year though, so could go either way. I think OKC takes a small step back this season in order to make a bigger leap forward if those picks turn out like people think they might.
 
#108 ·
I always thought signed draft picks couldn't be traded until Dec. 15, same as offseason free agents. Something that was eliminated in the new CBA, I assume.
Draft picks can be traded 30 days after they sign.
 
#109 ·
OKC got very good value on paper (more than Orlando got for Dwight Howard!) but that doesn't mean it was a good deal for them. The downgrade from Harden to Martin this year isn't huge, but a team that has realistic expectations of winning a championship should never make a move that makes them worse. I like Jeremy Lamb but the downgrade to him next year will be significant.

I don't think the draft picks help them all that much. The Lakers one isn't going to be good and the Raptors one is lottery protected. I don't see how late first round picks are going to crack an already busy rotation.
 
#116 ·
I don't think the draft picks help them all that much. The Lakers one isn't going to be good and the Raptors one is lottery protected. I don't see how late first round picks are going to crack an already busy rotation.
The Raptors pick is protected in a way to ensure it's a lottery pick. The only way that pick falls out of the lottery is if the Raptors make the playoffs every season through 2018. Additionally, the other draft pick is Dallas' first that's top-20 protected through 2017 and unprotected in 2018.

EDIT: Additionally, the haul that OKC got is why I don't understand why Orlando didn't just send Dwight to Houston.
 
#111 ·
I don't like this deal. Although OKC did get something good back in return, overall it doesn't fully make up for losing Harden, and considering how they're trying to win a title this year, I think this takes them a step back if anything.

As for Harden, he should've just taken the first deal that they offered him. Now his chances at gunning for a title are gone. ****ing idiot.
 
#113 · (Edited)
a thought: short term it's not just whether Martin is as good as Harden but rather whether Martin playing in a contract year is as good for the team as a potentially distracted and distracting Harden who might be moved at any time up to the trade deadline and what could that uncertainty do to team chemistry and focus?
 
#114 ·
I feel a lot more comfortable as a Lakers fan after this trade. I don't think that the deal is necessarily bad for the Thunder, in fact in the long run I think they will benefit from this, but they will be a weaker team next season.
 
#117 ·
One thing needs to be noted. I can tell from this thread that in the last few years of Houston's medicrity, most posters are not up to date on the current version of Kevin Martin. He ain't good.
 
#119 ·
Martin provides the opposite of what Harden brought the Thunder. Harden was that team's primary facilitator down the stretch of close games. Martin is the opposite of that, he's a one-dimensional player who is aging and not all that great at the one-dimension. The big problem with this trade is that Harden took a lot of pressure off of Westbrook and allowed him to do what he was capable of doing. The big way that the Thunder got better last year was by eliminating some of the negative plays from Westbrook. It's pretty questionable as to whether or not they'll be able to maintain that tactic now. This was accomplished by taking the ball away from him.

In fact Eric Maynor will be more important to the Thunder's chances at a title than Martin will be. He's going to have to handle the traditional PG responsibilities a lot more than he did when he was last healthy. Martin provides some scoring, but it's not going to be impactful really. Hard to imagine that he'll be able to play effectively with Durant or Westbrook.
 
#123 ·
You keep saying this and it simply isn't true. Harden was the occasional facilitator to close out games. More often than that it was Russ who continued to bring the ball up.


And what exactly is Harden if not one dimensional? Last year is the only year he was better than Martin in the assist/rebound categories and it was by about 1 each. Hardens not a stopper, and he's been lucky enough to have teams top defenders focusing on Durant and Westbrook over him. While Kevin Martin has always been on shitty teams as the 1a or 1b focus (which is sad really).


People keep acting like Martin is supposed to go to the Thunder and lead them somewhere, when in reality hes going there to come off the bench and provide a scoring punch. He'll do that, and he'll do it just fine. His shooting percentages should go up with the slack coverage he'll get on OKC, and Hardens will undoubtedly go down now that he'll face teams primary guard defender.


Quit playing Harden up to be some multifaceted two way player who's doing everything out there. He wasn't and he won't be on the Rockets either. He's a scorer. He never did a hell of a lot else out there.
 
#120 ·
dude, Martin is 28 and he's only there for one year - if you factor in the uncertainty and inevitable trade scenarios that would go along with Harden's decision this is a win - the moment he turned down the OKC offer Harden was not going to be a member of the Thunder after february one way or another and the Thunder were'nt going to get the same return from him they'd gotten in previous seasons - add in the way this deal lines up the Thunder's next 5 years it's a pretty clear upgrade and at least situationally it's pretty close to a best case scenario
 
#131 ·
OKC and/or Houston might be losers in this trade but the only party that's definitely not a loser in this deal is Harden. I would understand if Harden is closer to 30, but at 23 and have never been a full time starter, is it really that absurd to think that he might want to try to be more than just a role player? On top of that he got more money to go with the increased role. OKC is asking Harden to make a sacrifice on and off the court and while people might praise Harden for going along with it it's not wrong for him to turn down the offer.
 
#125 ·
How is Harden an idiot for wanting to be paid his market value? Players taking less money to play with their friends is what's ruining competitive balance. Why do people think it is honorable to settle for being a supporting player on a good team when they can try to make their own name as the top guy and get payed more for doing it?
 
#128 ·
Yet every CBA fans come out and say the "Well if the stupid owners didn't overpay!" cliche


There's arguments for either side. I just hope people realize that teams will always give out terrible contracts. The Rockets have been the worst so far. Harden and Lin are overpaid by a million or so a season, and Asik.... well that's just disgusting. He's not a starting center.
 
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