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.”

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  • Mikeallmighty

    I see what some thunder fans beefs are with this deal, but I like it, a lot, you get a proven scorer, a young player with lots of potential, and next year when they are on the clock with the probably 12th pick I would think, everyone will be even happier and then the year after!

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    They gave it away for this season. They definitely took a step back. Unless Durant and Westbrook go off crazy, they won’t be back in the Finals this season.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Easier road to the Finals.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Westbrook took less than he could have gotten. I’m surprised Harden didn’t follow suit given that he’s not the caliber of player Russell is. But I guess he is in his mind.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    He must be a little heated. He probably thought his friend and teammate would also take less money and stay with the team.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    You do know that the Thunder play in the West, right?

  • Gonn

    And then people wants to compare Harden to Ginobili.Manu was a gold medalist when he took less money to stay in San Antonio instead of going to Denver.He could have been part of a dinasty in OKC, just like Manu in San Antonio

  • Mr. Wet

    I think he’ll see a lot of matchup against opposing teams point gaurds. Lin i a big guy and they’ll probably gaurd each other’s counterpart a lot. I think Harden will see a bump in ppg, but you are right. He will probably see a lower fg%.

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    I’m still shocked that okc traded away harden

  • Caboose

    Nah don’t worry, the Lakers aren’t involved. Lake will be fine.

  • roscoe

    you’re correct. they did give a huge part of what they’re doing, but okc management realized that harden was not going to stick around and they had more leverage to strike a deal b4 this season begin bc harden is such a valuable player. for a big market team this was a bad trade, but for a small market team it was a great move, imo.

  • Bored

    yeah but k mart can get to the foul line too and he shoots a high percentage from there

  • esmooth

    this was a great trade for both team….harden can finally go on a team where he has the chance to become a star and not live in the shadow of durant and westbrook………okc got k martin who can flat out score and will easily pick up jharden scoring void…..and maynor is back so they have another playmaker…..they got first round picks which could become something special who knows…also lamb can come something special as he learn from kmartin and westbrook how to be a effective guard hes onli 20 years old……..also people callling harden greedy….so what…..you could never have too much money in this world…and he wanted a better deal…cause im pretty sure if everyone was in his shoes they would take more money point blank….god forbid he could get injury and he out of the nba and that extra money can help carry him through his life.

  • shockexchange

    ‘Til that dog catch a rabbit … that dog don’t hunt

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Nov. 28. Rockets at Thunder.

  • shockexchange

    They both gave away a lot. Remember, there were two parties (Harden and OKC) who could have created value for one another. By signing a less than max deal, Harden and OKC were poised to return to the WCF. Now, OKC has to rely on unproven players and Harden got his max deal, but will play in obscurity for a long time. With endorsements, Harden had the potential to make more in OKC than he’s making in Houston. The deal OKC offered was more than fair.

  • pavol

    he will then waste that big cash on things to keep him happy anyway…

  • shockexchange

    That’s what happens when you try to dis the Shock Exchange

  • JackPackage

    How can people think this was bad for OKC? They tried to re-sign him at a fair price, he declined and they traded him for a good deal. Lamb and two 1st rounders are going to keep OKC elite for the next 5 years at least, throw in Kevin Martin to fill in for Harden this year and it is a great deal. James Harden is overrated, not worth a max contract. And I’m a Seattle Sonics fan, if anyone would want to hate on OKC it’s me… But I can’t, they did the hard but right thing here and extended their already large window to win a chip in.

  • Conor

    Cormac McCarthy-esque.

  • shockexchange

    The Shock Exchange hopes the media doesn’t post article after article of (i) Harden’s whining, (ii) how poor Harden is so talented and playing in obscurity, and (iii) how underrated Harden is. The reason these guys make these poor career decisions is because they have hangers on and sycophants there to co-sign this nonsense. From here on he is will known as “Larry Hughes Jr” – a guy who will only be remembered for making a lot of money in the L.

  • shockexchange

    Meaning?

  • Rainman

    Exactly. Lakers are officially the clear favourites in the West.

  • Rainman

    LOL

  • Rainman

    completely agree. They offered Harden basically the same contract they gave Ibaka, what more could he ask for? He wanted his money and obviously was BSing when he said he’d accept less to be a part of this teams core. He got what he deserved. Going to a team that has a second round ceiling for the next 5 years, rather than competing for a chip for the next 5 years. Good stuff.

  • Rainman

    not blazers, not jazz, and not Wolves due to injuries to their 2 best players to start the season, and not the Mavs because they’ve lsot Dirk for 5 weeks (although i do expect them to make the playoffs)…so, no.

  • PJ

    what if the army said they’d relocate you to do the same job somewhere else for an extra 4.5 million dollars?

  • initbruv

    Initbruv likes shockexchange’s candor.

  • Da Real

    Harden will be exposed this year as an average scorer. He thought his beard would get him a max deal and Presti said gtfoh! Pelinka thinks all his players deserve the max and he is buggin. No way Harden will eat with defense focused on him and not Durant/Westbrook

  • danpowers

    cosign

  • Rainman

    Why isnt there a tweetcap of players reaction to this trade yet? ESPN already has one!, Come on Slam! lol

  • Shem

    Harden is good no doubt about it but he hasn’t proved to be worthy of a max contract. What happened to the days when teams only offered their best players max contracts?

  • LeroyShonuff

    The pics plus Kevin Martin and Lamb is huge. And they was able to move cole which sam was tryna to do. If at the beginning of last yr, Harden was offered for Martin straight up, everybody would of been hyped for OKC. Now they get Martin, Lamb and 3 first round picks and people saying OKC lost this trade??? Amazing. OKC traded a dollar for a dollar and seventy five cents.

  • justin05

    The Clippers and Spurs benefit from this trade as well. It would have been a Spurs v. Heat Finals w/o Harden last season. Lakers still need time to figure out how they are going to mesh, they’ll finish as a 2-3 seed either way.

  • justin05

    Idk about “elite for the next 5 years” but it definately wasn’t a BAD trade. Way smarter than the Howard trade to LA lol

  • justin05

    You right LA, berth, my bad. Thanks for the correction. I think Houston steals the 8 spot but Spurs, Thunder, or Lakers will take them out in 5 games easily.

  • justin05

    The Blazers roster is a little better in my opinion but idk about the Jazz or Hornets. The Mavs will not make the playoffs, mark my words. Therefore Houston only has to compete w/ 2 or 3 teams and they aren’t much worse.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    If Lamb works out and Perry Jones becomes 80% of who he could be, they will be one of the best 2 or 3 teams in the West for the foreseeable future.

  • TR

    Anyone think we’re underestimating KD and Westbrook right now? They could one day be the 2 best players in the nba. They’re only 23 and 24.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Basketball games are only 48 minutes. Idk why everyone thinks all 3, (Martin, Thabo, Lamb) will all get significant minutes….cuz that ain’t happenin.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    MARTIN DOESN’T SCORE IN ISOLATION. The Thunder will have to run plays for him, which means changing their offense to cater for a bench player. I think it’s more likely that RW plays a heavier amount of minute away from Durant while Maynor takes on a much bigger role in the offense. At least that’s the only way I see them still competing with LAL.

  • http://www.facebook.com/rjem7 Ralph Joseph Mijares

    i don’t even know why james harden rejected the $53 million offer for 4 years. he’s set to make $13.5 million a year. who makes that kind of money anyways? does he really think he’s a max player? get that money but cmon now. you can just opt out on your final year and get more money. it’s that easy. if he accepted okc’s offer and continue to get that W, players get bonuses on top of that. sheesh. in winning there’s more cash.

  • Redd

    Clone Wars is amazing & reminds me of the days of Saturday morning cartoons.

  • danpowers

    yup thats whats going to happen. they didnt improve through that trade, no doubt. but they will be fine and still a contender on paper.

  • danpowers

    i think its most likely that thabo will get minutes to play against the opposing leading scorer and whenever durant and brook need a rest theyll put martin out there to provide scoring. its not like the thunder went from contenders to lottery teams through that trade

  • danpowers

    word man

  • jmo

    I say they the bulls get rid of boozer in the offseason nd sign harden . rose and harden

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    They went from “favorite” (imo) in the Western Conference to “contender” – I never like tacking a step back for the future in the NBA. Too many unpredictable things happen not to strike while the iron is hot. So I don’t support this trade.

  • GC6

    They were both potential first picks I don’t know how on earth Perry Jones dropped to 30th allot of dumb general managers if you ask me.

  • kosey

    aww come on what about westbrool or durant getting hurt what they offered is alot of moola…wanted all that monies for part time play.

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