James Harden traded to the Rockets

[Yungsta404]

im late on this but all I have to say is LOL to the ones who swore up and down he was taking less than the max so he can stay in okc.

For the ones who said harden is joe johnson part 2. he will be worth the 5/78 max he will get from houston if its true. People forget how good a prime joe johnson was.

first fews years in atlanta

05-06 - 20/6/4
06-07 - 25/4/4
07 - 08 - 21/6/4

was a 20/5/5 player til he got that 6/120 contract

[ClayDavis]

im not gonna be mad when a billionaire (a shady one at that) asks a millionaire to take less. harden went from 5 million difference to getting 25 million extra.
i wish the rockets were like the yankees and had some facial hair etiquette. dat beard would be gone

[noto12ious]

in agreement with throwing 80 mill at harden. do it!

[StitchJones]

First: Harden is MUCH better than Kukoc.

96 Kukoc per 36: 18 ppg 5.5 rpg 4.9 apg 49% FG 40% 3P
12 Harden per 36: 19.3 ppg 4.7 rpg 4.1 apg 49% FG 39% 3P

Seems similar to me.

For one season and kukoc was 28 or 29 at the time. Harden is 23 and getting better.

[Guy986]

All I know is that Durant is going to be pissed at the way Kevin Martin will become a massive black hole on offense, and suck everything in his path in. All OKC's shots are belong to him now.

Westbrook might have words for him and probably more shots for himself 4 seconds in to the shot clock..

It only just dawned on me now, but Calderon and Westbrook are like the opposite of each other or anti-thesis' on offense. One holds the ball for 23 seconds and the other shoots a second into the clock.

If we ever landed Westbrook, and ran a 2 headed PG combo again, it would cause the most confusion on the scouting report, in the history of the NBA.

In other news, Lamb and PJIII if they both pan out, will be absolute gems for the Thunder. But it's all hypothetical now. However I can guarantee lulz when Martin starts looking off or freezing out Durant for an open look, while Westbrook does the same, only unconsciously, to be more competitive as the Alpha Chucker on the team.

You dont know what you are talking about. Kevin martin wont get many touches in okc. And he certainly wont be in a position to freeze out anyone. Hes a shooter.

[NiqtheAntiq]

First: Harden is MUCH better than Kukoc.

96 Kukoc per 36: 18 ppg 5.5 rpg 4.9 apg 49% FG 40% 3P
12 Harden per 36: 19.3 ppg 4.7 rpg 4.1 apg 49% FG 39% 3P

Seems similar to me.

For one season and kukoc was 28 or 29 at the time. Harden is 23 and getting better.

29 or not a contending team would give give Kukoc the max to play until age 34-35. Wasn't Joe Johnson around 28-29 when he got his 2nd max deal?

The Bulls were a 55 win team before Jordan came back with Kukoc and Pippen running the show.

[FlipTSO]

damn good call on the Kukoc analogy. Eerily similar stats, and everyone knows Kukoc only put up his stats because of Jordan/Pippen. We'll see if the same is true of Harden w/o Durant/WB

[StitchJones]

Harden is getting a potential 26 million dollars more by going to the Rockets. Him lying to OKC fan's faces or not, can't hate on him for that. I'd break up with my fiance right now if someone offered by 26 million

wow..you'd break up with your fiancee for money? i feel sorry for your fiancee for marrying a scumbag like you.

$26 mil can buy a lot of happiness despite what they say in movies.

And this is worth WAY more than 26 million.

How much would Harden command at 27 and being a 6th man for 4 years averaging 17 4 and 4?

How much would he command after four years of starting having all star appearances and averaging 22 5 and 5.

If he plays at that level he will make 100 million more over the course of his career. It's a pretty big deal.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

What I think is going to happen is both Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb will be Rip Hamilton-type players. Without commanding the ball they will both move off he ball and hit the open shot. (Martin will this season, Lamb later down the line). There will have to be more ball movement and cutting. I foresee shared scoring being the key to how this deal works out,

Another ball handler, perhaps Eric Maynor, is going to have to step up for OKC or this deal will fizzle.

Lamb has potential to be a tmac type iso scorer. He already has a nice pullup mid range game. He looks the type more comfortable with ball in hand.

Kmart will play ray allen role for thunder.

That could turn out to be a good comparison of Lamb with TMac. Few saw him becoming a go to, high usage player when Carter was a Raptor. Lamb has the perfect situation to be brought along slowly, too. At 20 years old, time is on his side.

KMart has a chance to bump up his shooting percentage, the same way Allen did when he went to the Cs. Allen went from shooting an eFG of around .510 to shooting .560 and even a little better. Doesn't sound like much but for a pure shooter to be 10% more accurate is a lot. Martin will be much better IMO. This also reminds me of Rip Hamilton going from the Wizards to the Pistons. Underrated player goes to a much more talented team and, surprise, performs better than expected.

[carayip]

Lol at OKC fans trying to defend this move.

While I think Lamb or those draft picks will turn out fine for them in future years, they definitely take a step back at least next year. Kevin Martin is definite downgrade from Harden no matter what stats you want to spin. And who knows what will happen in the future. When you got Durant and Westbrook, you try to win now, not look to the future.

I think Presti did well under the circumstance, under the pressure of his owner I am pretty sure. At least he's not the Bulls or Knicks GM who lost their assets for nothing. He had the courage to pull off a deal and get a great deal at that. You guys are lucky to have this guy.

But OKC fans should still be pissed, not at their GM, not at Harden, but at their owner. Because you guys downgraded for the only matter - money, the pockets of your owner, not because of talent, not flexibilty. No matter what media "small market" spin the owner wanted to put out, at the end of the day, it came down to his balance sheet and his bottom line. The guy is billionaire. Look at how much money he made off the Thunder in these few years. Are you telling me he couldn't afford those tax bills? Are you kidding? Other owners, big market, small market paid tax for lottery teams or 1st round teams, and your owner broke up a 23 year old Finals team, all over the reason of his bottom line. You guys should be pissed, not defending it.

the NBA is a business. if you are an owner, it's hard to demand an owner to put out $400 million and expect him to not make money (possibly losing some) off of that.

and since when is being worth 400 million = billionaire? you sound trollish, that or myopic.

How did I sound like a troll? Why as a fan, should care how much their owner make or lose, instead of demanding the best product possible? Did he give you a discount to your season ticket because now he saved some tax money?

[Yuri Vaultin]

$26 mil can buy a lot of happiness despite what they say in movies.

And this is worth WAY more than 26 million.

How much would Harden command at 27 and being a 6th man for 4 years averaging 17 4 and 4?

How much would he command after four years of starting having all star appearances and averaging 22 5 and 5.

If he plays at that level he will make 100 million more over the course of his career. It's a pretty big deal.

That's just it. And yet people think he should be fine with less money, less opportunity and a lesser role. This is big picture. What happens when Westbrook and Durant want their next contracts? Harden will be shown the door.

[Guy986]

I wish okc had taken one of the rockets many many pf instead of lamb.

[TwentyOne920]

Look, I know OKC fans want to make sense of this, but the bottom line is that the Thunder got worse. James Harden was integral to the Thunder offense. The Thunder got worse offensively swapping him for Martin and defensively since Martin is worse than Harden there, also. Martin is going to be 30 and has missed 116 games in the last five seasons - his next contract will be in a weird grey area where I don't think it makes sense to re-sign him. OKC is not going to contend this year, and Martin will be gone. So what did the Thunder do, essentially? Trade Harden for the 12th pick in the 2012 draft, and a couple other first rounders. I wouldn't call that a big haul.

All to what, save money? If Martin expires and they don't use that cash they're just spinning their tires. For all this to work out Presti has to hope his draft picks (and Lamb) work out, and he just traded a former #11 pick as cap filler. I hate this move because the Thunder just ended a season where they had HCA in the Finals. Just retain Harden or let him play out the year without an extension, and you can win a title! How hard is that? Presti has a history of acting soon. He extended Perkins before he played a game. Spent cap space extending Collison before free agency even began. Extended Ibaka before the situation with Harden was taken care of. And now he traded Harden for a fistful of lottery tickets before he had to. Don't like this move at all, and like it least of all because it smells like ownership drew a number in the sand that Presti could not exceed.

Presti's quickly proving he got his rep through lucking into Kevin Durant and having no pressure to succeed upon arriving in OKC, really.

[lakerz12]

Wow.. this surprises me.. You make it to the finals with a team that's only getting better and you trade a key piece away?

Maybe they were forced to do it but in no way does OKC get better here IMO

Harden was on the rise and Martin is on the decline .. unless Lamb/draft picks amount to a stud they lost this trade

As a Laker fan, I'm happy

[carayip]

Lol at OKC fans trying to defend this move.

While I think Lamb or those draft picks will turn out fine for them in future years, they definitely take a step back at least next year. Kevin Martin is definite downgrade from Harden no matter what stats you want to spin. And who knows what will happen in the future. When you got Durant and Westbrook, you try to win now, not look to the future.

I think Presti did well under the circumstance, under the pressure of his owner I am pretty sure. At least he's not the Bulls or Knicks GM who lost their assets for nothing. He had the courage to pull off a deal and get a great deal at that. You guys are lucky to have this guy.

But OKC fans should still be pissed, not at their GM, not at Harden, but at their owner. Because you guys downgraded for the only matter - money, the pockets of your owner, not because of talent, not flexibilty. No matter what media "small market" spin the owner wanted to put out, at the end of the day, it came down to his balance sheet and his bottom line. The guy is billionaire. Look at how much money he made off the Thunder in these few years. Are you telling me he couldn't afford those tax bills? Are you kidding? Other owners, big market, small market paid tax for lottery teams or 1st round teams, and your owner broke up a 23 year old Finals team, all over the reason of his bottom line. You guys should be pissed, not defending it.

would you give Toni Kukoc the max to be the 6th man on the 72 win bulls team though?

The point of my post is not to discuss whether Harden is worth the max or not. The point is that OKC is acting cheap in this move. Because all things come down to money at the end. And yes, if I were a billionaire owner, I would pay whatever it took to keep that 72-win Bulls team. If it meant paying Kukoc the max, so be it. You would say it's easy to say because it's not my money, but why as a fan care about money anyway?

[BarnabyJones]

I have a feeling this is going to come back and bite OKC in the ass down the road.

[ibraheim718]

Wow.. this surprises me.. You make it to the finals with a team that's only getting better and you trade a key piece away?

Maybe they were forced to do it but in no way does OKC get better here IMO

Harden was on the rise and Martin is on the decline .. unless Lamb/draft picks amount to a stud they lost this trade

As a Laker fan, I'm happy

Just don't make any sense at all.

[misterrunon]

that $26 million figure assumes that he will be out of the NBA by the time he's 27.

and comparing that $26 to yourself, unlikely a millionaire, to a guy who is expected to earn $100 million over his career.. that's a different story. i dont blame him for taking the money, that's up to him.

but if it's me, i would stay in OKC. i mean, i end up losing 2 million a year.. in the grand scheme of things, it's not that much.

[carayip]

Look, I know OKC fans want to make sense of this, but the bottom line is that the Thunder got worse. James Harden was integral to the Thunder offense. The Thunder got worse offensively swapping him for Martin and defensively since Martin is worse than Harden there, also. Martin is going to be 30 and has missed 116 games in the last five seasons - his next contract will be in a weird grey area where I don't think it makes sense to re-sign him. OKC is not going to contend this year, and Martin will be gone. So what did the Thunder do, essentially? Trade Harden for the 12th pick in the 2012 draft, and a couple other first rounders. I wouldn't call that a big haul.

All to what, save money? If Martin expires and they don't use that cash they're just spinning their tires. For all this to work out Presti has to hope his draft picks (and Lamb) work out, and he just traded a former #11 pick as cap filler. I hate this move because the Thunder just ended a season where they had HCA in the Finals. Just retain Harden or let him play out the year without an extension, and you can win a title! How hard is that? Presti has a history of acting soon. He extended Perkins before he played a game. Spent cap space extending Collison before free agency even began. Extended Ibaka before the situation with Harden was taken care of. And now he traded Harden for a fistful of lottery tickets before he had to. Don't like this move at all, and like it least of all because it smells like ownership drew a number in the sand that Presti could not exceed.

Presti's quickly proving he got his rep through lucking into Kevin Durant and having no pressure to succeed upon arriving in OKC, really.

I actually think Presti did well under the circumstance. He's clearly under the pressure of his ownership more than anything.

[misterrunon]

Look, I know OKC fans want to make sense of this, but the bottom line is that the Thunder got worse. James Harden was integral to the Thunder offense. The Thunder got worse offensively swapping him for Martin and defensively since Martin is worse than Harden there, also. Martin is going to be 30 and has missed 116 games in the last five seasons - his next contract will be in a weird grey area where I don't think it makes sense to re-sign him. OKC is not going to contend this year, and Martin will be gone. So what did the Thunder do, essentially? Trade Harden for the 12th pick in the 2012 draft, and a couple other first rounders. I wouldn't call that a big haul.

All to what, save money? If Martin expires and they don't use that cash they're just spinning their tires. For all this to work out Presti has to hope his draft picks (and Lamb) work out, and he just traded a former #11 pick as cap filler. I hate this move because the Thunder just ended a season where they had HCA in the Finals. Just retain Harden or let him play out the year without an extension, and you can win a title! How hard is that? Presti has a history of acting soon. He extended Perkins before he played a game. Spent cap space extending Collison before free agency even began. Extended Ibaka before the situation with Harden was taken care of. And now he traded Harden for a fistful of lottery tickets before he had to. Don't like this move at all, and like it least of all because it smells like ownership drew a number in the sand that Presti could not exceed.

Presti's quickly proving he got his rep through lucking into Kevin Durant and having no pressure to succeed upon arriving in OKC, really.

I actually think Presti did well under the circumstance. He's clearly under the pressure of his ownership more than anything.

yeah so many fans are oblivious.. seriously. they don't know the roles of an NBA franchise. they think GM's are the ones who are at the top of the chain when it comes to budget.