Monday, October 29th, 2012 at 10:15 am  |  100 responses

James Harden Was Reportedly Devastated By Trade


He may be ready to become the proverbial Man in Houston, but when the trade was announced, James Harden was not the happiest camper in the world. Reports The Oklahoman: “James Harden boarded an airplane Sunday morning, bound for Houston. He was ‘devastated,’ said someone who knows the Bearded One. Harden and his family both. Said Harden was stunned that the Thunder actually traded him to the Rockets. He didn’t believe the Thunder would do it. But Sam Presti told him. Presti’s lips now are sealed, but sources from both parties said that the Thunder appealed one final time to Harden on Friday. Upped its offer to $53 million over four years but told Harden if he didn’t take it, he would be traded to Houston. Presti didn’t use that as a warning. He used it as a plea. He desperately wanted to keep Harden, but this was the last best offer. And the Thunder gave Harden an hour to accept. It wasn’t that Presti was trying to play hardball, necessarily. He was on the clock. That deal with the Rockets wouldn’t last forever; Houston wanted Harden early enough to sign him to a contract extension by the Halloween deadline. Presti had decided that if Harden wouldn’t sign an extension with OKC, a preseason deal offered the Thunder its best leverage. Harden, through his agent, said he needed three days. Presti stood firm on one hour. And 60 minutes later, Presti called the Rockets and consummated a rare NBA October blockbuster trade. [...] ‘It happened so fast, it happened very fast,’ Harden said, a point Presti might dispute, since talks started in July. ‘But this is the position I’m in now,’ Harden said. ‘Just have to make the best of it.’”

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  • Clos1881

    The first few months they were negotiating the last amount came and he was given an hour thats a tough decision to make in that time frame. Not saying either side is at fault just saying I understand where Harding is coming from.

  • Junior Taylor

    Great point. People just like to choose sides and contort an argument to support their believes.

  • SlimeCity

    personally, i think that some people are putting too much blame on a 23 year old (who by the way has more than enough to time to pursue his basketball goals) in going for more money at such a young age. although you may argue that he wasn’t “worth the max”, there are several GMs around the NBA desperate enough to give a player like him that much money. “lebron and wade took less, heck even tim duncan took less TO WIN!” but these are already established players who have made the money and are now proven winners. harden is 23 right now and even if i were in his shoes, i’d take the money in case i have a mid-career crisis or a horrible injury to secure my future. i’m sure harden cares about winning but even though NBA fans hate to admit, getting as much money as soon as possible is a priority. you can sure use the “it’s not THAT much of a difference, just sign the OKC deal” excuse, but that’s someone else’s money, it’s easy for us to speculate what should be done with it. why not blame the organization for not giving him enough money? all in all, i think both parties won this. OKC cannot be counted out just yet because UM THEY STILL HAVE DURANT AND WESTBROOK. add martin’s scoring to fill in harden’s void, the possibility that his game can be elevated playing with great players, jeremy lamb and a returning eric maynor, they will be fine. even though LAL seems like a huge threat. a possible secured future with the picks and damn, i think OKC might have stole this. harden also has a lot to prove in his now starting role with houston. as a lakers fan, i still wish the best for both. but only time can tell what’s what.

  • tigerJK

    WOW

  • SlimeCity

    oh almost forgot PJIII, steal of the draft. presti really wants that executive of the year award.

  • danpowers

    dont blame him n that was a lil self ironically tho. my comment referred to him saying he was devastated. where is the point? to me this sounds like a complaint about the trade

  • lososway

    and they deserve those contracts. They could’ve waited until they were free agents and then signed for more. I think that’s what some (confused) people mean when they say they didn’t sign for max

  • lososway

    not sure what you’re saying, Russian guy…

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i believe he was devastated because the Thunder didn’t value him as much as he thought they should man.

  • danpowers

    and my statement was just that they valued and offered him exactly what he is worth

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    the offer was fair, in your opinion, for the Thunder. Not for Harden. There is a difference. If Harden was worth max money to ANYONE, max money would be a “fair” offer. Harden has all the right in the world to be devastated, he obviously wanted to stay in OKC, but he also wanted the best professional situation for himself in terms of compensation. He isn’t wrong for turning down the Thunder offer just because it seems “fair”. This is his life & future. And his life is more important than the Thunder’s success as a team.
    .
    Him being devastated isn’t complaining, it’s being honest.

  • Lloyd

    This article makes it seem like he was going to take the deal. He wanted more money and Presti gave him the highest offer he would and an hour to decide in turn. Negotiation wise, asking for three days instead seems more like a power play to me to save face before conceding defeat and accepting.

  • Datkid

    my thoughts exactly.

  • 23

    Yep I agee, but quite frankly I think that this is exactly what harden wanted.

  • 23

    I would think winning is above and beyond the #1 goal for all players. If you ask me its stupid to reject a multimillion dollar contract with arguably the best team in the nba and then turn around and sign a deal with the worst team in the southwest division. But that’s just me.

  • 23

    All that money for the same dude that didn’t show up in the finals.

  • 23

    I think that’s a lot worse. Playing at an elite level, then inexplicably disappearing when his team needed him most.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    it is 1 more year and $23,000,000.00 more dollars. Winning is a great goal for a team to have, but for a 23 year old individual? What the f*ck for? What if he gets hurt and this is his list contract as a professional basketball player? What if he wants to be able to pay for the college of his kids, and their kids, and their kids, and their kids?
    .
    Do you no have any financial responsibilities in your life? Every time I hear a person criticize an NBA player for taking that much more money i just assume those people have no idea how valuable money actually is.

  • 23

    Funny you bring up the spurs because at one point I thought OKC was going to be the new version of San Antonio.

  • 23

    The most sensible comment I’ve read so far.

  • shutup

    James Harden showed that his bottom-line meant more than team success, I respected what OKC was doing, I was hoping that money issues wouldn’t tear this team apart, its sad to think that their run might be over before it ever got started. They reminded also the Spurs, The humble superstar team leader (Duncan/Durant) the fiery often amazing pg (Parker/Westbrook) and the Sacrificial starter that comes off the bench as a sg but runs the offense (Manu/Harden)

  • 23

    $50mil+ is plenty of money to live off of. Not to mention his previous contract, and his shoe deal with Nike. He did not sign with Houston for his kids college. You play to win the game. If your number 1 goal isn’t a chip, then gtfo !

  • 23

    Well, maybe NOH can become a spurs-esque franchise.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    how much do you think his Nike deal is worth? And I didn’t say he won’t f*cking survive. Read what I say so you can stop responding with these asinine arguments. You don’t know what kind of financial well being Harden wants/needs in order to live the life he wants to live. Basketball is a game, you can play to win, and still know that. Your life is more important than a game. God forbid, if something happened, and Harden never got the opportunity to win anyway, he would be able to know he maximized the earning potential of his career. It is childish and immature to criticize a person for making career decisions that ultimately benefit their life and the life of their family. No matter how exorbitant their life already is.

  • charliewinning

    I never read that Harden said it was a bad deal. The thing is, a career in pro sports lasts until you’re 40 if you have an abnormally long career. A bunch of fans working dead end jobs that they’ll likely have until they’re 65 simply aren’t in a position to give valid advice on what a player should be satisfied with. You people are in it for your entertainment. It takes a huge amount of immaturity and stupidity to sit behind a keyboard and dictate how much fiinancial security someone else and their fanmily should accept. In end we’re just a bunch of fans. You don’t mean more than than they’re future.

  • charliewinning

    *their future

  • brad09′

    lol like the owners of the thunder (who sell out 41 games a season) cant pay that luxury tax? really kevin martin makes 12 million. Its not like theyre saving a bunch of money. The simple point here is neither the Thunder Front office or Harden was willing to part with money. Not much of a shocker.

  • Max

    It’s totally diffrent tho, the best player in the NBA who joins the then 2nd best player and an allstar, to the best 6th man in the L who still needs to prove himself as a go to guy.
    Not that I had anything against Lebron joining the Heat..

  • ConnieHawk

    we get it, it’s his financial situation. but as it pertains to this article, noting that he is devastated, then he sounds like an idiot. Sounds like Presti laid it out pretty straight, sacrifice and take 53mil instead of the 60 mil we can offer so we can compete, or go get 78mil on some trash team. and it’s not like OkC is gonna be some awful team. they just picked up a pretty awesome sixth man in Kevin Martin. I don’t don’t think anyone ‘loses’ in this trade really tho. Kevin Martin and Lamb definitely win tho hahaha

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    he is devastated because the team he wants to play with, doesn’t value him as highly as others. it’s pretty straight forward. you can know something’s coming, and still get devastated by it. I believe the majority of the United States is experiencing that as we speak.

  • http://www.facebook.com/BoppinBob47 Bob Edwards

    They should value him more than Westbrook and Ibaka who both signed for less than the Max? He’s devastated because he broke up a very solid core who could have contended for many years. He sounds like a spoiled brat who didn’t get his way.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i didn’t say they should do anything. — and he’s definitely not devastated because of what happened to the Thunder. That’s funny though.
    .
    Just because they signed ONE other guy for less (Ibaka, because he either doesn’t care about the money, or has a bad agent), doesn’t mean Harden should lower what he can sign for. — And RW did sign for the Max. 80 million over 5 years. He doesn’t sound like a spoiled brat at all, saying your devastated is not throwing a tantrum. That’s such bullsh*t. When you have a job that you love, and your employer tells you you will have to relocate, would you be considered a spoiled brat for being devastated that you have to pack up and leave? No. It’s not f*cking different for an NBA player. It’s just a job. A great great great job. But still a job.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i didn’t say they should do anything. — and he’s definitely not devastated because of what happened to the Thunder. That’s funny though.
    .
    Just because they signed ONE other guy for less (Ibaka, because he either doesn’t care about the money, or has a bad agent), doesn’t mean Harden should lower what he can sign for. — And RW did sign for the Max. 80 million over 5 years. He doesn’t sound like a spoiled brat at all, saying your devastated is not throwing a tantrum. That’s such bullsh*t. When you have a job that you love, and your employer tells you you will have to relocate, would you be considered a spoiled brat for being devastated that you have to pack up and leave? No. It’s not f*cking different for an NBA player. It’s just a job. A great great great job. But still a job.

  • Rick

    Actually, as it turns out, it was a 5-year deal upwards of $78M. Each team can offer a 5-year deal to one player and the Thunder had already given it to Russell Westbrook. Can’t blamed the bearded one for taking the much more lucrative offer. Sam Presti never ceases to amaze me… just when you think his back is up against the wall, he comes out swinging and ends up with a fantastic trade for the Thunder in the long term. K. Martin can light it up, Lamb is a silky smooth prospect, and those lottery draft picks may become the most important thing of the trade.

  • Midlawson

    Worst team.Are you nuts man.

  • Midlawson

    And who the hell says he is not going to win at Houston.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Compared to OKC? You can’t be serious.

  • z

    It must get frustrating, dealing with us dumb Americans

  • Richard greenwood

    He could have stayed but his agent was probably too greedy. Takes .5 seconds to say yes to an offer and was given an hour. I wish him all the good luck in the world but I have a problem with people who cannot make up their own minds. If he is truly devastated, he has no one to blame but himself. At the end of the day, Sam Presti is a man of his word.

  • http://www.facebook.com/khalid.scates Khalid Scates

    Its not about signing anyone to replace Harden. Its about maintaining salary cap flexibility by avoiding the draconian luxury tax penalties… the escalating $1.50 to $1.00 over threshold and repeat offender penalty negotiated in the new CBA. True the Thunder did accept roughly the same amount of salary in return +/- a set percentage also predetermined by the CBA… but Harden is still playing on a rookie deal. That’s far different than a Max deal or 4yr/$55M. The bottom line is that James Harden has not shown that he is a Max player and thats not a secret. Its no secret when a player deserves the Max… trust your eyes don’t lie. This is exactly why the owners should blame themselves and their poor choices for GMs who consistently over pay for players and complain when it blows up in their face. As far as salary cap flexibility going forward the Thunder has plenty of young talent to groom… Eric Maynor… Perry Jones… Jeremy Lamb… and a host of draft picks. One of these players or picks will surely replace Harden’s productivity… and at a price that will suit both the team and player. Congrats to Mr. Harden for gettin paid!!!

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    except, Per Minute, Harden has shown that he is an elite player. The bet is to whether or not that carries over to full fledged 36 minutes of having the ball in his hands. But, he was getting a max contract from someone, one way or the other. And Daryl Morey (the GM of the Rockets) has proven over time to be quite reliable.
    .
    As far as the Thunder go, it’s not “salary cap flexibility” that would imply they have room to maneuver inside the cap…..they don’t. But they also won’t be paying, the steep luxury tax. Salary Cap flexibility however, is not something OKC will really experience until 2014 at the very very very earliest.

  • TruBluFan

    Thank you, Dagger, for saying that out loud!!! I agree with you.

  • TSA

    Your comment really deserves attention! I follow you and say: Hey people wake up and do not worry about Harden, he is still getting the millions you all dream of.

  • Yi-Cheng Chen

    This is the best ending. Happily ever after for both sides. Sweet.

  • aaa

    Harden decided to play and Presti made good on his “threat…” Shouldn’t be surprised, Presti is not one to joke around.

  • k

    Agreed, but then he should not be devastated by the trade.

  • aed

    I don’t think they used him effectively enough though… just look at the stat lines he’s posting now.

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

    I’m happy for the dude

  • RedRum

    Sorry, can’t feel bad for him. He made a bluff. OKC called it. Now he is getting the burden of being no1 in a team, a burden I am not sure he wants… remember, before draft he wrote to Presti to draft him as he wanted to be the there with other stars, not a star himself.

  • TZ4

    He sure looks like a Max player to me. All-Star. Houston’s best player, 40 point games, triple doubles. ETC…

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