Thunder trade James Harden to Rockets

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--thunder-trade-james-harden-to-rockets-27481909.html

"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.
As part of the deal, the Thunder will receive "significant" future draft picks from Houston, a source told Y! Sports."



I think the Thunder made a good trade, although I don't see how K-Mart will integrate into their team.
 
So Rocket is going to give Harden the max? Harden/Lin is going to be interesting.
I wonder if Harden for MT and/or Reke have ever been discussed, MT/IT or Reke/Brook for Harden/Aldridge make alot more sense.
 
See? My Thornton for Harden three way deal wasn't so far featched after all. :)

The money was always going to be the issue with his agent insisting he get paid max for never having averaged 17ppg in the league. Now we see if he is Joe Johnson or if he's TMac.


On the P.S. level, Kevin finally gets to play for a winner and have a shot at a ring.
 
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^^^ If we did something like that, we would have to sign Tyreke AND Harden next summer which is too much for the Maloofs to handle.

I would not have minded a Harden and Collision for Tyreke and Hayes trade which would work for both teams financially. Harden would be excellent, as he would be that spot up shooter we need.
 
Bballkingsrock said:
^^^ If we did something like that, we would have to sign Tyreke AND Harden next summer which is too much for the Maloofs to handle.

I would not have minded a Harden and Collision for Tyreke and Hayes trade which would work for both teams financially. Harden would be excellent, as he would be that spot up shooter we need.
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Oh no. I wanted no part of Harden. I think he's overrated, going to be overpaid, and am expecting a Joe Johnson career arc here.

My suggestions were simply that Thornton going to OKC as the main part might jar Harden loose to Charlotte, and then we could get Charlotte's lottery pick., Hence 2 lottery picks for us. Key to the theory though was that OKC was going to have to move Harden for a cheaper high scoring SG. Turns out that was exactly what happened. Just took them a few months to realize it, too late for it to benefit us.
 
OKC did very very well.
KM, Lamb and Toronto and Dallas first round picks next year.

Will find out very quickly how good is Harden as a starter. Is gambling legal in Houston?
 
MassachusettsKingsFan said:
I suppose I like this for Houston, and understand it from OKC. Pretty big shocker of a deal this close to the season, though.
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Apparently a last second thing for OKC -- tried and tried to talk Harden down from his max demand. Finally had to move him now because the time limitfor Houston to offer him a max extension is Halloween.
 
Unlike Bricky, I'm a big Harden fan. But that aside, the Thunder got a hell of a deal. Two first round picks along with Martin and Lamb. I'm a huge fan of Lamb, who I think can be a star in the league. He's a great defender and was one of the best players at summer league. I would have loved for the Kings to get their hands on him. He's a terrific shooter!
 
bajaden said:
Unlike Bricky, I'm a big Harden fan. But that aside, the Thunder got a hell of a deal. Two first round picks along with Martin and Lamb. I'm a huge fan of Lamb, who I think can be a star in the league. He's a great defender and was one of the best players at summer league. I would have loved for the Kings to get their hands on him. He's a terrific shooter!
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If Lamb could live to expectations. He will replace Thabo in 2 or 3 years. Thabo is a superb defender but his offensive capability is nowhere near Lamb's ceiling.

What's happening with Houston btw. Is there some sort of cult that have mind controlled its GMs? Maybe their collecting the best beards in the NBA. Royce White + Harden could drive a beard country. Maybe we can ship Salmons there. LOL
 
I'm curious where this puts K-mart on the depth chart. He has been a starter for years. Now is he 3rd behind Sefalosha and Lamb?
 
Wow OKC made out great in this deal. Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb (lottery pick), Toronto's lottery pick, and Dallas' 1st round pick?
 
Entity said:
I'm curious where this puts K-mart on the depth chart. He has been a starter for years. Now is he 3rd behind Sefalosha and Lamb?
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No. Lamb is a rookie, and he's not in front of Martin in the depth chart.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Martin step into the Harden role as the #1 scorer off the bench, playing behind Sefolosha but getting a lot more minutes.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
No. Lamb is a rookie, and he's not in front of Martin in the depth chart.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Martin step into the Harden role as the #1 scorer off the bench, playing behind Sefolosha but getting a lot more minutes.
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Yeah I think your dead on. I suspect they're looking at Martin as the short term fix for Harden, with Lamb being the long term fix. Lamb isn't the passer that Harden is, but he was a terrific defender at UCONN, and when he's aggressive, like he was in summer league, he can really light it up offensively. Everyone attending summer leagues games nicknamed hin Money! He was flat our unstoppable. Just summer league, I know. But after deferring first to Kemba Walker, and then Shabazz Muhammed, he finally had a chance to show off what he could do.
 
bajaden said:
But after deferring first to Kemba Walker, and then Shabazz Muhammed, he finally had a chance to show off what he could do.
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Heh. I got totally confused for a second. You meant Shabazz Napier. It's amazing how there are two Shabazzes!
 
Bricklayer said:
See? My Thornton for Harden three way deal wasn't so far featched after all. :)

The money was always going to be the issue with his agent insisting he get paid max for never having averaged 17ppg in the league. Now we see if he is Joe Johnson or if he's TMac.


On the P.S. level, Kevin finally gets to play for a winner and have a shot at a ring.
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I am VERY happy for K-Mart. As my favorite King when he played in Sac I will definitely still be following him! I think he brings spotup shooting and the ability to get to the hoop to OKC.
 
Anyone realize that OKC got more for Harden than Orlando got for Howard. Let that sink in for a moment. Then lets all laugh at Orlando again.
 
I don't think this trade makes OKC better for the next couple of years. Probably worse. Martin isn't the caliber of player of a Harden. I like Lamb a lot, but I think it will take him two or three years to see if he's a star like a Harden. The number 1 picks are nice, but from what I can tell from perusing the stories, one is lottery protected, and the other is from the Lakers, so it doesn't look like they are going to be top 10 or anything.
 
Agent23 said:
Anyone realize that OKC got more for Harden than Orlando got for Howard. Let that sink in for a moment. Then lets all laugh at Orlando again.
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It is tough to judge these deals against each other because the teams have different time scales for their objectives. The Magic realized that without a star player their rebuilding efforts would burn out into mediocrity so instead they dropped the talent suck bomb to attempt a full rebuild with top draft choices. They will surely be awful for the foreseeable future due to this approach, but their thinking is that is the optimal tactic to gain top tier NBA talent.

The Thunder didn't have this problem, due to locking up Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka. Their objective is to sustain their championship window without limiting their roster flexibility. Orlando did sell Dwight for pennies on the dollar, but looking at their logic, good or bad, they obviously had a much different short term goal than OKC.
 
I am not sold on Harden, sure he is a max player because the market says he is but that being said, being a number one option, best defender on you at all games, having to go against the other teams best players from the beginning and not having two superstars surrounding you is going to be tough. Houston will pay him the max and they will have a trio of Lin, Asik and Harden. They are going to be downright awful.

As for Martin, this is great for him, will have that 6th man role, coming off the bench will be playing next to KD and Westbrook at times, he won't have to worry about closing out games or handling the ball.

Also Lamb looked damn good, he will take over Martins spot in a year and two.
 
I believe this trade is a long term trade for OKC, they do not get better in the short term, more importantly this year. The draft picks are nice, Lamb has to develop, and Kevin Martin might be able to light it up offensively at times, but he also disappears for quarters at a time; and many of those quarters happen to be the 4th. He's not aggressive, and he can't defend at all.
 
Eric Maynor is going to have to play some big important minutes for this team this year. This team was pitiful in the assist category with Harden, who was their best ball handler last year, and without him it's all going to be on Maynor.
 
Kingster said:
Eric Maynor is going to have to play some big important minutes for this team this year. This team was pitiful in the assist category with Harden, who was their best ball handler last year, and without him it's all going to be on Maynor.
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While I don't diagree at all that the Thunder are counting on going to a more traditional PG/SG split in their reserves with Maynor/Kevin, I would just have to note that being pitiful in assists didn't really seem to damage them too much last year. Their two main studs don't need them, and nobody else ever shoots.
 
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