James Harden traded to the Rockets

[Mehar]

First of all Harden is a fine player, but he is not a MAX player. People are criticizing Presti, but down the line paying Harden the max would have hampered their cap situation. Let us see how Harden does when he does not have the likes of Durant, and Westbrook alongside of him. Good for Harden to get the contract he did get. Not bad for a 6th man.

SMH, he's far better than anyone on the Raptors. The Thunder were title contenders only because they could have someone like him coming off the bench. Now they have Kevin Martin? Oh dear...

Hey i stated my opinion, and never brought the Raptors into the conversation. I frankly think Presti made the right move not to pay Harden 60 million over 4 years. If you disagree, so be it. Tying up that much money into Harden, who to me is a solid player, but not a franchise type player was not the way to go. I thought he was lacklustre in the NBA finals as well when it all counted. OKC got a good return for their future, and Kevin Martin is by no means a terrible player. At the end of the day, teams have to operate with a thing called a salary cap, and Presti made the right move going forward to maintain as much flexibility as well. Let's see how Harden does with no Durant and Westrbook alongside of him, before we start praising Morey and trashing Presti.

[Neutral 123]

First of all Harden is a fine player, but he is not a MAX player. People are criticizing Presti, but down the line paying Harden the max would have hampered their cap situation. Let us see how Harden does when he does not have the likes of Durant, and Westbrook alongside of him. Good for Harden to get the contract he did get. Not bad for a 6th man.

SMH, he's far better than anyone on the Raptors. The Thunder were title contenders only because they could have someone like him coming off the bench. Now they have Kevin Martin? Oh dear...

Hey i stated my opinion, and never brought the Raptors into the conversation. I frankly think Presti made the right move not to pay Harden 60 million over 4 years. If you disagree, so be it. Tying up that much money into Harden, who to me is a solid player, but not a franchise type player was not the way to go. I thought he was lacklustre in the NBA finals as well when it all counted. OKC got a good return for their future, and Kevin Martin is by no means a terrible player. At the end of the day, teams have to operate with a thing called a salary cap, and Presti made the right move going forward to maintain as much flexibility as well. Let's see how Harden does with no Durant and Westrbook alongside of him, before we start praising Morey and trashing Presti.

They had what they needed for a championship. Are they going to sign Martin long term? Are they going to hope one of these draft picks or Lamb pan out? Only to have to pay them anyways? They had a championship team, they didn't need so called flexibility. As someone suggested, this could be an ego thing from management/ownership... Ouch

[reapaman]

This time last year Harden was seen as a bust by many people here. Fast foward a year and many people think he's a perrennial allstar claiber player.

He goes from highly underrated to supremely overrated in one year. Look a healthy Kevin martin is a much better scorer than Harder at this point plus Maynors back so you don't need hardens playmaking abilities which were solid but often very erratic. He can often kill you just like westbrook did playmaking wise. Also what makes you think he won't suck again in the finals?

He not worth anywhere near the max and houston will regret giving it too him. Martin can more than make up for harden and adding picks and a guy I love in Jeremy Lamb makes this a true steal. Thunder are much stronger imo.

[jjscap]

This trade makes Rockets a fun team to watch. Also it's a wise decision to keep Parsons and Peterson despite the interest from OKC. I like these two guys and they'll only improve. Not sure about how good Lamb is but this trade looks good for the Rockets. I'll watch more games of them on NBA League Pass for sure.. And if Lin lives up to the expectations they might even surprise many people this year.

[LakerLegend]

Harden as of now could probably be the 2nd best player on a title team

......................................................................

[therealbig3]

Harden as of now could probably be the 2nd best player on a title team

......................................................................

Don't see what's so weird about that statement.

He was arguably the 2nd best player on a team that went to the Finals last year.

[jstnw89]

Harden as of now could probably be the 2nd best player on a title team

......................................................................

Don't see what's so weird about that statement.

He was arguably the 2nd best player on a team that went to the Finals last year.

Do you really think it was arguable?

[sfernald]

Looking at it from James Harden's perspective, could you really blame him? He was constantly asked to sacrifice his game because of Durant and Westbrook. He really did not deserve to be a 6th man. He was a starter, a budding star actually, and probably a better player than Westbrook. The guy could drive and score at will and did just so quite often in the playoffs. He is probably a future top 10-15 player no doubt. Anybody that doesn't see how he was held back by the Okc front office is crazy. It's like they thought by keeping him a sixth man, they could somehow sign him at a discount. Well, that was a crazy idea, because he wasn't going to realize all of his potential there but others could see it easily. He had to break out (Just Break Out, as Kelly Clarkson might say). He was just too good to be the 3rd guy. Now he's the first guy and God only knows how good he will be. In a lot of ways he is like the perfect player, so unselfish and yet can score at will. I could see him pushing 23-25 points a game now for the Rockets easily along with 5 rebs and 5 assists.

And I don't think Okc did as well as people think. Think about it. This is really going to kill chemistry because Harden was a HUGE part of their offense. And the fear factor for OKC is basically gone now. They are not a three headed monster like Miami now. They are just a two headed monster, like the Clippers. They likely won't be as good a team this year, and getting back to the finals will be a huge challenge for them. Kevin Martin just won't do it for them either. One of the best things about their team is that they seemed injury proof. KMart will get his injury as he does every year and miss half the season. You can bank on that at least from him.

[TwentyOne920]

The person most affected by this trade is Russell Westbrook. If OKC wants a shot at a title he better be more consistent. There's a reason advanced stats folk dislike the guy.

[Fat Kat]

James Harden getting the max is scary to me. The guy is good, but he's not worth any where near the max. When I think of max players I think of guys you can build a franchise around, and Harden is not that guy.

So how do you explain Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, and Eric Gordon getting max contracts? Harden is clearly better than all 3 guys. Face it, its about the market, not about how good you think the player is. If there is demand, then somebody will overpay. If Houston didn't overpay him, somebody else would have. That's often the only way to sign a sought after player these days.

Bad contracts. Brook Lopez though was a 20/6 center so I think that's not so out there.

Eddy Curry was once a 20/7 player on a losing team. Brook is overpaid.

[twozeroMM]

James Harden getting the max is scary to me. The guy is good, but he's not worth any where near the max. When I think of max players I think of guys you can build a franchise around, and Harden is not that guy.

So how do you explain Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, and Eric Gordon getting max contracts? Harden is clearly better than all 3 guys. Face it, its about the market, not about how good you think the player is. If there is demand, then somebody will overpay. If Houston didn't overpay him, somebody else would have. That's often the only way to sign a sought after player these days.

I think its the other way around with Eric Gordon. Imo Gordon clearly better then Harden.

[TwentyOne920]

So you're telling me an injury prone 2-guard who averages high PPG but hasn't really WON games (he's on exactly zero >.500 teams) is better than the 3rd best/2nd most efficient player on a Finals team?

What.

[twozeroMM]

So you're telling me an injury prone 2-guard who averages high PPG but hasn't really WON games (he's on exactly zero >.500 teams) is better than the 3rd best/2nd most efficient player on a Finals team?

What.

Give me a healthy Eric Gordon over Harden any day. Replace Gordon with Harden on last years team and he would do the same, matter a fact even better.

[XcalibuR]

James Harden getting the max is scary to me. The guy is good, but he's not worth any where near the max. When I think of max players I think of guys you can build a franchise around, and Harden is not that guy.

So how do you explain Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, and Eric Gordon getting max contracts? Harden is clearly better than all 3 guys. Face it, its about the market, not about how good you think the player is. If there is demand, then somebody will overpay. If Houston didn't overpay him, somebody else would have. That's often the only way to sign a sought after player these days.

I think its the other way around with Eric Gordon. Imo Gordon clearly better then Harden.

Eric Gordon is just a chucker and gives no where near the impact that James Harden provides offensively.

[jjscap]

Yes, it's ridiculous to be the #3 option on a team considering how talented he is.
He'll be the #1 and make more money elsewhere.. Easy decision for Harden I guess.

[JoseRizal]

Great trade for the Rockets...

[chandlerbang23]

haters everywhere. Anytime a revelant player from a championship team goes to a nonpopular team everyone thinks he will play poorly but if harden when to the knicks people would be looking at him like he is the final piece to championship status. SMH. Rockets got a 23 year old stud from OKC while giving up 29 year old martin whose expiring and injury prone and Lamb who played poorly in all preseason games and got his spot taken by carlos delfino. I dont think any of you live her in htown because lamb is as lazy as eddy curry on defense and his only game is chucking 3pointers and and not getting back on D due to frustration. Rockets are about the FUTURE and they also have max cap for another player this summer or through trade. IF garbage like brook lopez can get a max in brooklyn why can a ALLSTAR , OLYMPIC player like harden have the max as well. Its like all his accomplishments go out the window if traded to a non media friendly team . Houston is a large market team with cap and a GM that finally made a planned move instead of getting shot down by stern. OKC got 2 first round picks , unproven project rookie, and injury prone SG that can still hit the jumpshot when open. The nba is changing with the new cap restrictions and CBA rules and from where i am standing this is the 1st instance where a team thought more about their future and overspending . More to come as we get further into this CBA and i like what i am seeing so far. Tax matters kids

[TwentyOne920]

Eric Gordon's scoring does not win you games. He's like Rudy Gay or Monta Ellis in that they were given the green light to score on bad teams, and yet they don't improve their standings.

I'd credit ZBo and Marc for the Grizzlies' emergence; hell Mike Conley's their third most important player.

[OneWhoKnocks]

Eric Gordon is better than Harden, don't let Harden's play behind Durant and Westbrook fool you.

[TheToothFairy]

Eric Gordon's scoring does not win you games. He's like Rudy Gay or Monta Ellis in that they were given the green light to score on bad teams, and yet they don't improve their standings.

I'd credit ZBo and Marc for the Grizzlies' emergence; hell Mike Conley's their third most important player.

What do u think Harden is gonna do on Hou?