James Harden traded to the Rockets

[Houndy]

The Rockets acquired James Harden, after Harden rejected OKC's 52 million dollar extension

The Rockets sent Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and future draft considerations to the Thunder for Harden, sources told Y! Sports. Along with Harden, the Thunder will send Cole Aldridge, Lazar Hayward and Daequan Cook to the Rockets.

Houston also sent two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma City, sources told Y! Sports, as well as a 2013 second-round pick (via Charlotte).

Discuss

[Nick]

Beat me to it. (feel free to delete my thread, mods)

I did not expect that. Be interesting to finally see James Harden as a team's go-to guy. But i'm pretty surprised he turned down a 53 mil/4 yr offer from OKC.

[The X]

Beat me to it. A pretty good haul for OKC. Shame they couldn't move Perkins' contract in the deal though. I wonder if Martin will be moved on or just play out his contract.

Hope the $3 mill per year is worth it for Harden. I'd prefer playing with Durant & Westbrook than Lin.

[Abctest123]

Absolute WTF and didn't expect that. Guess the GM wasn't gonna screw around and lose him for nothing or overpay him.

[The X]

That's why everyone loves Presti as a GM. Thought Jazz also did well dealing Deron Williams to avoid drama/saga & maximise value.

[rise]

Honestly, this is bad for both teams.

Houston is solidifying itself as a 7-10th seed for years to come.

OKC breaks up a contending squad. Anybody find it crazy James Harden just threw away his chances of being a part of a DYNASTY over 6-7M dollars?

[The X]

You know, I think it'll come as a surprise to Harden the same way it did to Lin. He would've been expecting to re-sign & left it to agent to wager best contract. I'm sure nobody expected it to happen this quick. It is what it is. They said all along they needed a hometown discount for him to stay & it appears they weren't joking.

[Nick]

They said all along they needed a hometown discount for him to stay & it appears they weren't joking.

It's not like 53mil over 4 years is a small contract though. That's 13.25 mil a year! He will get 60 mil over 4 years in Houston though apparently according to Woj. I hope it's worth it James!

[Phil89]

So much for him taking less to stay with the Thunder. Presti making it clear that no individual is bigger than the team.

"We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers," Presti said. "We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin's caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team. We appreciate James, Cole, Daequan and Lazar’s contributions to the Thunder organization and this community and wish them the best in the future.”

I don't know anything about Lamb really. But I'll be watching him and Perry Jones closely this season off the bench.

[The X]

Lamb's got a lot of potential. I think being on a team with guys like Durant & Westbrook & an organisation as quality as OKC is becoming is going to help him more than being in Houston. He probably won't play much as a rookie, but his upside means he might in a year or two.

Exciting times for the Thunder. They just keep re-tooling & boosting their stocks/assets.

On a side note, I love how this trade came out of nowhere. With internet these days you hear trade rumours for hours, days, weeks or longer. I like the excitement of it happening like it does in a computer game, instantaneously

EDIT: Also glad to see Rockets pick up a young, talented player by using some of their assets.

[Houndy]

Lamb is very athletic.... I' d keep tabs on him for the future, good prospect.

EDIT: What happens to Thabo now?

[Like A Boss]

Lamb is very athletic.... I' d keep tabs on him for the future, good prospect.

EDIT: What happens to Thabo now?

Glued in the bench I guess...

[Houndy]

It makes him expendable, that's for sure.

[Phil89]

Why would his role change? He was keeping Harden on the bench after all. I guess we'll see what Brooks decides.

[NovU]

I'm interested to see how this will affect the Thunder. Losing Harden is BIG, huge. But they still have great talents. Surprised to see letting him go this early despite chance of losing him next season. They possibly broke up the championship team. Future over one legit chance at the title, that's what it is I guess.

As for the Rockets, I don't think this is a bad move at all even though they will MAX pay him next season. Harden's young and got great potential so I think he'll be worth the investment considering today's talent pool and their salary.

[benji]

Hope the $3 mill per year is worth it for Harden. I'd prefer playing with Durant & Westbrook than Lin.

OKC breaks up a contending squad. Anybody find it crazy James Harden just threw away his chances of being a part of a DYNASTY over 6-7M dollars?

It's not like 53mil over 4 years is a small contract though. That's 13.25 mil a year! He will get 60 mil over 4 years in Houston though apparently according to Woj. I hope it's worth it James!

[stereoxide]

Harden really blew it for not accepting the contract. Now let's see him atone for his sins.

[NovU]

It's funny how people portray Harden as a villain. He now has a team to himself and a big fat contract to sign. Like you guys would give up that kind of life just to ride Durant and Westbrooks' dicks. Oh... nvm abutthat.

[Andrew]

On a side note, I love how this trade came out of nowhere. With internet these days you hear trade rumours for hours, days, weeks or longer. I like the excitement of it happening like it does in a computer game, instantaneously

Absolutely, it's rare for a trade like this to come out of nowhere like it did. Certainly a surprise.

This one's pretty decent for both sides. Harden's a quality player but he's had the luxury of playing alongside Durant and Westbrook, so it remains to be seen how well he'll fare when he's in a bigger role and garnering more attention from the defense. Despite the extra money and bigger role, he may regret not agreeing to terms with the Thunder, but I still think he'll do alright and he's a good pickup for the Rockets. Cook's not bad to have for a few minutes a night as a three point threat off the bench, either. On the other side, the Thunder are losing a good shooter who's also pretty adept at being a playmaker, but Martin's a solid veteran pickup and Lamb gives them a promising young player to develop. They've obviously still got Durant and Westbrook too, so they'll be fine.

I think both teams are going to come out of the deal alright. However, depending on how Lamb turns out, not to mention those two first round picks next year, the Thunder are probably going to be the clear winners of the trade in the long run.

[benji]

This is how the luxury tax is supposed to work. The Thunder weren't willing to pay it and because they overpaid Ibaka now they give a good player to Houston.

[stereoxide]

It's funny how people portray Harden as a villain. He now has a team to himself and a big fat contract to sign. Like you guys would give up that kind of life just to ride Durant and Westbrooks' dicks. Oh... nvm abutthat.

Well LeBron did the opposite by riding Wade and Bosh's dicks. I feel bad for Harden because he is a member of a championship caliber team and now he throws it away to play with Lin and Asik. And 52 million is a large money for Harden. Now the Thunder got picks and if the Rocket's suck they will get good players with those picks.

[benji]

You realize that Harden was traded right?

[Andrew]

I don't think most people in this thread are portraying Harden as a villain, anyway. A few of us are wondering about the decision to leave what would appear to be a pretty good situation in Oklahoma City, which is a fair question to ask. That's hardly demonising him.

[stereoxide]

You realize that Harden was traded right?

Yes I know.

[NovU]

Lol. Silly...

He's a legit promising 23 years old player and there's this notion already that it's best for him to chase the ring as a 3rd, 4th, nvm actually as a bench guy and with sacrifice of money. If he was in late 20s, it would make much more sense to me but hey, some people just know what's best for him I figure.

And talk LeBron and Bosh? Lol. They did exactly opposite and still was shit on and were called COWARDS. Now Harden gets to try it in UNCOWARDLY way and still is a shitty decision. What the fuck is not a bad decision.