Harden trade: Safe to call a failure now?

[Nycballa2k]

They had to Trade Harden they offered him a contract he declined its not they wanted too they just didn't have enough money to pay harden w estbrook and Durant. By trading him they got player and picks in return which was a smart move instead of letting him go for nothin. This wasn't a normal trade because OKC is championship contender so random rookie players won't help them so calling this trade a failure is silky

except they could have amnestied Perkins and given Harden what he wanted

[Effigy]

If we signed Harden we were going to be crippled, we can only get so much production out of a 6th man and he wasnt worth the max to us. We improved this season in all areas anyway so we dont really miss him. I think we should of tried trading for a center though thats the only thing I can fault

No, you could have kept him this past season and would have been fine financially. You could have taken your shot and possibly beat Miami n the finals. After this season you could re evaluate and decide. Ten you could decide to trade either Harden or Russ, and ever way you'd get as good or better an offer same one you took.

But Westbrook went down in the end anyway so we wouldn't of won anyway, Harden was worth more with a year on his contract anyway

Westbrook went down in a freak accident against Houston which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't given them Harden. You'd be playing Utah

[RutgersBJJ]

People always seem to forget the profits from previous seasons and the money received from other teams paying the luxury tax in previous years whenever they try to pretend that OKC couldn't afford to pay all 3 players. Certain people don't want to see that OKC chose maximizing yearly profits by fielding a team under the tax and refusing to amnesty Perkins, instead of using previous profits and luxury tax payments to finance paying for a contender. Why try to win a championship when you can just spend up to the tax level, sell out every home game, and get a good amount of home playoff games?

What's this nonsense of reinvesting into your business? Who does that?

They broke up the future super team to dominate the league and in the process inadvertently helped create the next super team to dominate the league in Houston. It's a terrible trade. OKC lost that deal and hilariously the Lakers and Mavs are also losers in the deal despite not even being a part of the transaction.

This doesn't even factor in that they could have signed harden to the extension which didn't
kick in right away and traded him right now if they wanted to. Instead they traded a guy when his value was hurting coming off a terrible finals performance. There's no way the deal they got from Houston will be better than any deal Cleveland would have been willing to give them this off season.

[tonyreyes123]

Yeah they screwed up and now karma will come when Durant bolts in a few years.

[KL78192020]

Not even close, this was a horrible trade for OKC. They basically gave up their shot at having a big three. They might have killed their championship window. Durant and Westbrook are going to have to play out of their minds to win.

They won 60 games this year without him. Durant and Westbrook were the stars that they are, but they didnt play out of their minds. They were favorites to win the West w/ RW and that will continue as long as they got KD and RW.

Its a failure, they gave up the best player. With nothing to show for it. Lamb,Adams won't develop into
anything for at least 3 or 4 years. Injuries will happen every single year, that is why you need 3 guys at least to compete.

I'm not saying they won't be good, but they just made it much more difficult for themselves than it had to be.

They could've easily cut others to keep him. Again people talk about about his crappy performance in the finals, but he is young. Lebron had a crappy 2011 finals, does he suck to?

[eagereyez]

I'm no basketball guru or anything, but why couldn't OKC have allowed Westbrook, Durant and Harden to start at the same time? These guys were still developing players, they could have created a system that would work for all 3 of them.

[Chalky White]

People always seem to forget the profits from previous seasons and the money received from other teams paying the luxury tax in previous years whenever they try to pretend that OKC couldn't afford to pay all 3 players. Certain people don't want to see that OKC chose maximizing yearly profits by fielding a team under the tax and refusing to amnesty Perkins, instead of using previous profits and luxury tax payments to finance paying for a contender. Why try to win a championship when you can just spend up to the tax level, sell out every home game, and get a good amount of home playoff games?

What's this nonsense of reinvesting into your business? Who does that?

They broke up the future super team to dominate the league and in the process inadvertently helped create the next super team to dominate the league in Houston. It's a terrible trade. OKC lost that deal and hilariously the Lakers and Mavs are also losers in the deal despite not even being a part of the transaction.

This doesn't even factor in that they could have signed harden to the extension which didn't
kick in right away and traded him right now if they wanted to. Instead they traded a guy when his value was hurting coming off a terrible finals performance. There's no way the deal they got from Houston will be better than any deal Cleveland would have been willing to give them this off season.

This is the correct answer. Sadly, most OKC fans are foolish enough to believe they couldn't afford to extend him, not realizing that potential revenues made from multiple title runs would more than make up the difference.

Also: they extended Scott Brooks during the same offseason. In other words; Sam Presti is a terrible GM.

[Spicy P]

They could have kept him easily had they not given Perkins that horrendous contract. I don't know what they were thinking, paying him that kind of money.

[Zedders]

One of the worst trades ever.

[kingkirk]

No.

We need to wait to see how Lamb and Adams develop.

If they bust, then yes, it was a failure.

If they come on, then what?

People looking for answers right now and saying this was a fail is wrong at this point.

[carbine23]

OKc has a lot of potential, but we can talk all about potential. What if in 3-4 years they still haven't won anything because they lack that scoring punch from the bench they sorely need. What then for KD?

[GetYourPHX]

I remember the first thing I thought when I saw that trade had gone through. I thought "this is the Thunder's Joe Johnson moment."

When the Suns let Johnson walk, they were a young team with loads of potential, and all of us fans tried desperately to justify it. It was a bad move. Letting Harden go was a bad move. If OKC never wins a championship, their fans will look back on that trade and hate it forever.

Letting Johnson walk was where Sarver started his rep as a cheap owner. If OKC fans think Clay "I left Seattle for the $$" Bennett is going to field a team that doesn't make money they're sorely mistaken.

[miltk]

better winning % in 2013 than in 2012.

westy didn't play in 2013

harden crapped out in 2012

[BJGOAT3]

OKC traded Harden while they were still contending for an expiring+prospect+pick, I believe it is safe to say that it was a huge failure which ruined the team's chances at contending, which in return brought almost nothing while giving a Conference opponent the opportunity to form a contending team by Harden+free agency. Not only that it is safe to say that it was a failure, it was one of the BIGGEST failures in the recent trade history.

If they didn't use K.Martin as an expiring it would be more understandable to be honest. They might have undermined Harden's ability and thought Martin could fit the role just fine. By not renewing K.Martin they expose that their intention was only to dump a long term salary.

[Ayt]

No.

We need to wait to see how Lamb and Adams develop.

If they bust, then yes, it was a failure.

If they come on, then what?

People looking for answers right now and saying this was a fail is wrong at this point.

You don't need to use any hindsight. It was a terrible trade at the time.

[Tumakapac713]

The trade has been a failure for a while now. Even if Lamb and Adams develop into productive players, Harden is currently a top 12-15 player in the league and while Martin is a good scorer, he's nothing more than a good sixth man/inconsequential starter.

[TheChosen618]

Unless Lamb and Adams develop into stars or great role players, it's pretty clearly a bad trade.

My problem with the trade is not that OKC gave up their chances at winning a title or multiple titles. I think even with Harden, they more than likely wouldn't win any since Miami is just an absolute matchup nightmare for them. My problem with the trade is the fact that they didn't even get anything close to equal talent in return. It's pretty tough to get equal talent for a star player but it really seemed like they got nothing for him.

[G35]

Those are his rookie stats....

I think he is trying to say that people are already saying the trade was a failure only after Lamb playing one season and Adams nothing. Harden after his 1st season was really nothing special

So hopefully only two or three more years before Lamb and Adams can contribute? Good thing Durant and Westbrook are young enough to waste that time.

Yes that's what I'm saying. Harden didn't do much of anything his rookie year.

And Durant/WB are both 24 so yes they do have time to build something. How many titles did Lebron have at 24? How many did Jordan have? Kobe rebuilt from losing Shaq. Garnett has been traded to two different teams trying to win a title.

Harden is no superstar that will guarantee a title. If the Rockets and OKC meet again (even with Dwight) OKC is going to win again. Harden is not better than WB or Durant. The only team the Thunder are competing against is the Heat when they are healthy. This woe is me, the sky is falling attitude is ridiculous. People are losing it over one year.

Where was all the outrage at Harden when he choked in the finals vs the Heat? He would have choked again if he was still on the Thunder. He is not the magic potion to beat Lebron and the Heat. They locked him up and they could easily do it again. Because Harden's game is not versatile enough to overcome the Heat's athleticism. Step back three's and flopping isn't going to cut in the playoff's.

I mean Houston went from the 5th seed down to the 8th seed. What happened to the Rockets? And do people really think Dwight is a great fit? He's just going to be doing the same thing Asik was doing, are the Rockets really going to change how they play to post up Dwight? I don't know why they need Dwight in the first place, every expert out there is saying Dwight isn't the difference for any team winning a title. Even Dwight is looking for the Rockets to bring in another star. Harden and Dwight isn't scaring anybody.....

[Ayt]

Houston went from the 5th seed down to the 8th seed? What?

[G35]

Houston went from the 5th seed down to the 8th seed? What?

Excuse me....6th seed to the 8th seed. They lost 4 of their last 6 games to WC playoff teams with their only wins against Phx and the Kings. They choked down the stretch when they could have set themselves up only to go against the worst team they could have faced. And they still couldn't win against OKC without WB.....