James Harden traded to the Rockets

[Jordan45822]

wait they got Toronto's pick?

[Honey Bear]

The people who are saying this is a win for OKC should think about how much of a step back Martin took last year (even with his injuries). Martin's a good scorer but he's not a 20 PPG scorer anymore. Lamb on the other hand could be really good in this league. As far as the picks go, that'll probably determine who really won this trade.

[NashtyNas]

I honestly don't know how to feel about this.

Might even be a lateral move.

I think it looks that way now, but it's going to be great for the Thunder, especially if they managed to get one of the Rockets' million bigs and the Raptors pick.

That would mean at the least 2 lottery prospects along with a stop gap in Kevin Martin, exactly the type of deal they were looking for.

Obviously, people were expecting a bigger deal with Perkins/Ibaka moving and a huge upgrade, but that was unlikely; teams don't make moves like that after just getting to the Finals. Anyone could have seen Harden trade coming, but expected them to move him for interior scoring.

So far, the deal looks like: Martin, Lamb, Dallas pick, Tor pick for Harden, Cook, Aldrich, Hayward

As I said, if the Thunder got a big back as well (possible but not likely) this might turn out to be a home run. Martin hasn't been great for a while, but he has been out of his niche, playing as the best player on the teams hes been on. Finally, he will be back in his niche as strictly a scorer off the bench with no pressure to guard opposing teams best guys, which should help him a lot. His ability to get to the line is also a plus, although the lost playmaking is going to be hard to swallow unless Westbrook improves there (which he should, with sole control of the ball as the playmaker). Lamb will be good in this league once he gets the PT, so I'm not worried as to how this was a horrible trade for the Thunder, but it does hurt them immediately a bit.

[ropjhk]

Kevin Martin is only a slight downgrade from Harden IMO. With Lamb, Perry Jones and those future draft considerations OKC will be stacked with young promising players for years. If they are serious about winning a championship they should convert all that young potential into some quality vets.

[Bertrob]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

Houston sends two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma CIty, source tells Y!

[Bertrob]

Kevin Martin is only a slight downgrade from Harden IMO.

WHAT. HOW. Elaborate

[dockingsched]

wait they got Toronto's pick?

i posted that as a guess, since wojo said they got significant picks. we'll see though.

[Jordan45822]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA
Houston sends two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma CIty, source tells Y!

[Cool Guy]

This guarantees KD will end his career elsewhere now.

[Bertrob]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

Houston also sends a 2013 second-round pick (via Charlotte) to Thunder.

[TheNewEra]

This doesn't make any sense for OKC. Kevin Martin can do nothing but score. James Harden's beast quality in my opinion was anchoring and effectively running the second unit as a point guard off the bench. Can Kevin Martin really do that? There better be a TON of good picks here otherwise I can't figure out what makes him pull off a deal like this

Mayor will run the offense and they are going to let Lamb beast with freedom

[dockingsched]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA
Houston sends two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma CIty, source tells Y!

boom, headshot. OKC shoots, OKC scores.

[tsherkin]

Interesting.

From OKC's side, I like the idea of what they got back. Martin's a $13M expiring who'll give them 60 games or so, Lamb is an intriguing prospect and the picks will be valuable. It makes a lot of sense money-wise. I'm somewhat concerned about their ball-handling, though, because this now puts a lot of pressure on Westbrook to be more of an effective PnR player and maybe more on Durant (referring back to the fairly disastrous experiments early on in the season) as a ball-handler. Neither of those are enticing prospects, although Martin's a great shooter and Lamb has a lot of potential in a role similar to the one Harden filled (isos and PnRs), even if he isn't an elite shooter. He's going to struggle physically, so having Martin around to split time is also valuable. He is, of course, a huge step down from Harden in terms of efficiency, because he's not a great 3PT shooter and isn't anywhere near as good getting to the line. Of course, he's not even 20 and has lots of potential, so we'll see.

For Houston, we're going to get to see what Harden can do in a role with more responsibility and if he can redeem himself after choking badly in the Finals. He'll mesh fine with Lin, it'll be chemistry no different than what he had with Westbrook, so it'll be a non-factor for Houston's offense, a definite upgrade. For Houston, I like it a lot.

Interesting stuff right as the season's about to start!

[BeasleyTheBeast]

[SternSucks]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA
Houston sends two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma CIty, source tells Y!

WOW!!!

[franktony]

It's not only Martin and Lamb.

OKC still got draft picks. We have to wait and see if they got the Raps pick.

I don't think it was a bad deal at all for OKC. They got rid of their trash, got a starting SG, a very good SG prospect and picks.

[sisibilio]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI&t=56s

[Nate505]

Wow.

This trade just seemed to come out of nowhere.

I don't even know how to judge it. Though I think the Thunder at least got some value for Harden.

[DMVleGeND]

WTF?? This just came out of nowhere.

[SCourGe OF GoD]

Guys did OKC get the Toronto pick? if so damn