Saturday, October 27th, 2012 at 11:33 pm  |  241 responses

James Harden Traded to Houston Rockets


Well, that ends the James Harden-OKC Thunder max contract drama. The Thunder have shipped Harden to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and future Draft considerations. Yahoo! has the report: “The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded  James Harden to the Houston Rockets after they were unable to agree to a contract extension with the star guard, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. 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). The first-round picks have varying degrees of protection on them, but the one from Toronto is assured of being in the lottery whenever it is relayed to the Thunder. Contract extension talks between the Thunder and Harden broke down, and Thunder general manger Sam Presti moved quickly to trade the guard. Harden rejected a four-year offer that would have paid him a base salary of $53 million to $54 million, league sources said. That offer would have pushed OKC’s payroll to $95 million, and Thunder officials weren’t willing to go any higher.”

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , ,

← Older Comments
  • danpowers

    you would have prefered speculations and distractions, all that soap opera drama – as we saw it most recently in the d12 case – all season long instead? because this wouldve been what would have happened from the moment that harden turned down the thunders offer.

  • Redd

    Best conversation on this site ever..

  • zogs19994

    J LIN = 23% IN THE PRE-SEASON????!!!
    I KNOW PRE-SEASON ISNT SHlT….BUT STILL

  • ant

    Bottom line is OKC offered Harden something below is market value. Granted it’s still a large sum of money, but no one would leave 15-20 million on the table.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Yes. They are professionals. If James Harden being a free agent causes Drama then OKC should have just put it behind them. — and I’m not even saying this trade won’t ultimately benefit OKC..is the Toronto pick lottery protected? They could end up with a great piece. But I still don’t like giving up any advantage at success today. Tomorrow is to unpredictable as it is.

  • Caboose

    It’s simple: sacrifice 2012-2013 to LA or Miami and win in 2014. Which I firmly believe they will.

  • YM

    What has Harden done to prove that he’s a max contract player? Played well against another teams bench?

  • YM

    What did they sacrifice? Traded a 12.7 ppg (career) player for a 18.4 ppg (career) player, who is much more proven than Harden… AND got Jeremy Lamb AND draft picks… and they sacrificed?! wtf

  • YM

    James Harden ppg in his 3 years in the NBA: 9.9, 12.2, 16.8 for a career avg of 12.7 ppg…. Playing against other teams benches
    You’re probably the same guy that thought Rashard Lewis deserved a max contract

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Chemistry. They sacrificed the 6th man of the Year. Let’s not act like Harden is easily replaceable. He is pretty proven after 3 years. He hit big shots against the Spurs in the WCF. What big shots has Kevin Martin hit? Does he have a killer instinct? Harden does. At least for this season, they sacrificed the team that was 3 wins from a championship just 4 months ago.

  • Caboose

    So it’s career average that matters? Ok, the Nuggets should trade Iguodala (15.3 ppg career) for Vince Carter (21.4 ppg career) right? That’s such a nonsensical argument dude.

  • YM

    Alright, let’s use a couple of stats based on last year to get my point across.

    Jason Terry, 6 man a few seasons ago. Last year averaged 15.1 ppg. Accepted a contract w/ C’s for 3 years worth 15 million.
    Ray Allen, 14.2 ppg last season, $9 mill for 3 years.

    Those 2 are legit proven players. James Harden had 1 good year and is getting paid because people think he’ll improve big time. This is called “speculation”

  • YM

    This is exactly what I’m talking about… Otis Smith vision.

    You’re comparing killer instincts as perceived by you? Do you have some kind of scale you base this off of? Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant? How the hell can you tell who has more killer instinct?

    I’d say OKC did a damn good job of replacing Harden. If you’re not familiar with Martin, just take a look at his numbers throughout the years. And really, Martin didn’t have the opportunity to hit “big shots” because he was never on a contending team. The guy has been putting up good numbers for 7 seasons…

  • Caboose

    Haha I have NO idea why you think those random stats prove your point. Are you legitimately trying to argue that Kevin Martin is better than Harden?

  • YM

    You really don’t understand why I’m comparing those contracts? Is it that difficult to connect the dots? The point is, that in the NBA these days, players show potential to becoming something great and get paid before they become great. This has been pattern for the last 10 years.

    And sure, I will argue that Kevin Martin is better. Harden comes off the bench, plays against the other teams bench and is good at that. 6 man of the year, I give him that.

    Kevin Martin has been starting on shitty teams. Since his 3rd year in the league, he has been posting approx. 20+ ppg against other starters for 7 SEASONS.

  • Caboose

    Of course I understand that young players get overpaid because of potential. But that is not relevant to the discussion. You think Kevin Martin is better than Harden for this upcoming season? Career really doesn’t matter at this point (of course Martin has had a better career so far) because we were discussing NEXT SEASON. So let me at least attempt to enlighten you.

    1. Harden had more Offensive Win Shares, Defensive Win Shares, and Win Shares per 48 Minutes.
    2. Harden had a better Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating.
    3. Harden shot a better FG%, 3P%, TS%, and EFG%.
    4. Harden averaged the same amount of points per game on 3 less shots.
    5. Harden averaged more rebounds and assists.
    6. Harden had a substantially higher PER.
    7. Harden averaged more steals and more blocks.
    8. What Martin did better: .3 more ppg, .4 less turnovers, and 5% better at the free throw line.

    If you’re going to make an argument, at least come with something substantial.

  • Mr. Wet

    starting on shitty teams says a lot more. He’s been the man on most of those teams. So his “career” ppg’s average is with him being the first option for most of them.

  • Mr. Wet

    harden is a RFA.

  • Mr. Wet

    He has the right to accept whatever the hell he wants. And yes, if you look at comparable contracts around the league. Harden is a max contract player for his elgible pay scale.

  • Mr. Wet

    max conract is misleading. it’s the max a guy coming of his rookie contract can make. He’s still making less than westbrook and kd.

  • Drig

    Smart move by OKC. Instead of committing about 80% of the cap space for 4 players regardless of how good they are, they traded away one of them, lost their edge in the short-term over the Lakers but can now field a much more balanced team 2013 and beyond. Smart move by Harden to earn cash when his stock is IMO at its peak in the L.

  • Ugh

    He’s a good scorer with a championship background where he wasn’t The Man. That’s what they want.
    If he’s half as good as Harden but comes at one third the cost – both of which are conservative estimates – OKC has come out of this trade the winner.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Answer the question. How many pressure shots has Kevin Martin hit? Harden hit quite a few. Martin has never been on a winning team. It’s different scoring on bad teams than it is having to score on a team that is expected to win the Conference. Did I mention Chris Paul or Kobe? I said Harden can play well under pressure. We’ve seen it. We haven’t seen it from Martin. So all of these folks acting like Kevin Martin is equal to James just because he’s scored well have lost their minds. You said it yourself. He’s played on bad teams. He has to prove he can perform well under pressure. They traded a guy who showed he could. They will miss him. At least this season. Period.

  • Bigbeats23

    Jeremy lamb is gonna be the next rudy gay same school smae body type expect lamb has a better jump shot rudy had a little more athleticism I think okc will be bomb the next few years

  • danpowers

    lol

  • danpowers
  • Bored

    yeah hornets is a long shot due to unproven talent. idk about the mavs not making the finals but i’m saying they have a better roster even without dirk. you’re right though, its tight. I just think there are 8 teams with a better roster in the west, even now with all the injuries.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003246310246 Jason Carter

    nuthin to find out about lin, he sucks and a T.O. machine obviously, dont buy the hype, Harden yea you have a point

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003246310246 Jason Carter

    OKC just lost a playmaker and another slasher, they were a jump shooting team before and it just got worse. what are they gunna do when the game slows down in the playoffs and those jumpshots aint falling, harden used to get to the rack, and get his, or create shots for others, not to mention K-mart doesnt play defense or rebound as good as harden, idk man this trade can work Great, or fail drastically, we’ll see

  • Bored

    I see what you’re saying about injuries but which players are making the rockets better right now? Harden, obviously but Lin? Im a fan but we dont know what to expect from him yet. Asik is going to be good for them most likely but we dont know what he is going to be like as a starting center. He avg’d 14 mins last year. Patterson is good and Parsons should produce similar to last year. Machado, Jones and White are really good rookies for them but they are still rookies. Cook, Delfino, Douglas, Hayward, Aldrich, Livingston and Morris are on some pretty steady declines. Some much more than others. I just dont know why people are jumping on the rockets right now just because of this Harden trade. It’s like people forgot they lost Kmart and Lamb.

  • Bored

    I see what you’re saying about injuries but which players are making the rockets better right now? Harden, obviously but Lin? Im a fan but we dont know what to expect from him yet. Asik is going to be good for them most likely but we dont know what he is going to be like as a starting center. He avg’d 14 mins last year. Patterson is good and Parsons should produce similar to last year. Machado, Jones and White are really good rookies for them but they are still rookies. Cook, Delfino, Douglas, Hayward, Aldrich, Livingston and Morris are on some pretty steady declines. Some much more than others. I just dont know why people are jumping on the rockets right now just because of this Harden trade. It’s like people forgot they lost Kmart and Lamb.

  • Bored

    haha, what has Terry and Allen have to do with this? at all?

  • Bored

    I think @ecb3f771d4c3e2c58ec9c3edb2bfbb49:disqus, you should have stuck to the Harden playing benches bit because that was the closest you got to making sense in all that writing.

  • Bored

    also, its pretty obvious who has more killer instinct between Harden and Kmart

  • Bored

    scratch that, the Wolves dont have a better roster without Love and Rubio. Blazers though yes.

  • HARDENSUCKS

    JAMES HARDEN IS A SELFISH PIECE OF CRAP WHO WANTS KD MONEY FOR DISAPPEARING IN THE PLAYOFFS. THEY MADE A GOOD DECISION SENDING HIM AWAY, HE SUCKS ASS!!

  • Kohlberg

    True, but it takes more than two great players to win a title. OKC found that out the hard way this past June.

  • http://twitter.com/Neitel_17 Nathan Agosto

    That would be impossible because its not real. You basicly asking me to “imagine if the army would pay me 4.5 millions” and im not going to play imagine this or imagine that. First of all, the job i hate in the army actually sucks, so i wouldn’t do it anywhere else. I would had to have been pay 1 million dollars at my first contract, then we talk re-locations.

  • http://twitter.com/Neitel_17 Nathan Agosto

    that harden is greedy and he is never satisfied AND that harden needs to shave that nasty a** beard. I hope metta world war elbows him again.

  • http://twitter.com/Neitel_17 Nathan Agosto

    I only hate him, the utah jazz and dallas mavericks but the rest of the nba is ok. I dont watch too much nba nowdays, enjoy them for me since you love watching them with the rest of the world.

  • http://twitter.com/Neitel_17 Nathan Agosto

    it’s about loyalty…but then again, i guess thunder didnt want to spend no money…looks like houston won on this and thunder got some fake #23, whom is ok…but he aint no impact defense player like harden was…

← Older Comments
Advertisement