Harden to Houston

E

eastside_purple

Well-known member
Wow.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded James Harden, Daequan Cook, Lazar Hayward and Cole Aldrich to the Houston Rockets for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and future draft picks, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.

The Thunder were unable to come to terms with their star swingman Harden on a contract extension and chose to break up their star trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden.
Click to expand...
 
 
OKC just gave up contending in the present. They seem to be focusing on 2-3 years from now when the Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics are going to be undergoing significant roster changes. Possibly the Heat as well depending on Wade's health.

Looks like all three picks the Thunder are receiving in this deal could be due in the 2013 draft. They will get the Mavs 1st rounder and the Bobcats 2nd rounder. If the Raptors finish between 4-14 in the lottery, they will get their 1st rounder this year as well. Kevin Martin is scheduled to make a ton this year, but he will be an UFA at season's end.
 
ridgerams2010 said:
Like this trade for Houston a lot.

I like Cook and Aldrich more than most tho
Click to expand...

I'm not disagreeing with you, but playing time will be hard to find in Houston for Aldrich with their plethora of young bigs already: Asik, Brockman, Jones, Morris, Motiejunas, and Patterson.
 
Last edited:
nwwarrior09 said:
OKC just gave up contending in the present. They seem to be focusing on 2-3 years from now when the Lakers, Spurs, and Celtics are going to be undergoing significant roster changes. Possibly the Heat as well depending on Wade's health.

Looks like all three picks the Thunder are receiving in this deal could be due in the 2013 draft. They will get the Mavs 1st rounder and the Bobcats 2nd rounder. If the Raptors finish between 4-14 in the lottery, they will get their 1st rounder this year as well. Kevin Martin is scheduled to make a ton this year, but he will be an UFA at season's end.
Click to expand...

I agree that their focus in this deal is 2-3 years from now, but I think you are overrating Harden and/or underrating Martin.

Kevin Martin has been a better scorer throughout his NBA career than Harden. Last season ended 5 straight seasons of 20+ ppg and he's ranked in the top 10 in scoring twice. He's also ranks in the top 10 among active players in FT% and offensive rating.

Of course Martin plays more than Harden, but he has averaged more points per 36 minutes in each of Harden's 3 seasons in the NBA as well. Plus, opposing defenses have always game-planned to stop him as the top scorer on his team. In OKC, Harden was always the #3 guy on the other team's scouting report. Martin is a better pure shooter and will flourish spotting up in the OKC offense.

Lamb won't be much of a factor this season, but I could see him being Sefolosha with a jumper in a few seasons.
 
Harden will be like Trevor Ariza when he went to Houston IMO. Basically irrelevant. OKC simply couldn't afford to give top money to a guy whose primary ability is scoring, just like their two best players. The only thing I don't get is why they would want Kevin Martin, whose primary ability is also scoring.
 
OKC handled the situation poorly IMO. Houston doesn't get that much better though, Harden is a guy who needs to be surrounded by a couple other great players to really reach his potential, he's not an alpha dog type player. Houston is under the cap to go after some guys next year like Al Jefferson and some others though
 
hs sports fan said:
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. He proved at UConn that he is a very good role player but is not the type of player to put a team on his back.
Click to expand...

Who said anything about putting a team on his back? Do you realize he just got traded to a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook? :laugh: Brain dead.
 
I could equate being a stud as being good at what you're asked to do. If Lamb is asked to be a good role player and does it well, then yes, he could be labeled a stud IMO. James Harden was definitely a stud in OKC, but in no way was he putting the team on his back.

EDIT: I find it odd that we're arguing the definition of stud.
 
Harden had a sick game last night. He has that ability. Just way too inconsistent for my liking, and disappeared in the finals. He and OKC should have worked something out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top