James Harden traded to the Rockets

[[GR]]

I doubt they beat the Spurs, Lakers, or the Clippers.

[DreDay]

They are better now. Martin/Lamb will excel in the James Harden role just like him. They got great picks for the future. I wasn't a fan of the OKC front office before this deal but now I am sold. They are the best FO.

[phx#7]

And you care about the way the owner writes the check because??

What indication did I give that I care? If you look at my first response I even acknowledge Houston still has a lot of flexibility. I merely made a correction.

[Don Draper]

I don't like this trade, but you guys are overrating Lamb. The worst part of this deal is the draft picks, not giving up Lamb.

[SCourGe OF GoD]

Harden will be a hell of a player in the starting unit for Houston.

Damn i love the NBA. Bynum and Harden are in the same boat now...former 3rd options given their own teams to be tha man on. Should be fun to watch ..

[RatherUnique]

When's the last time Kevin Martin was relevant? He's almost perpetually injured, and now that he can't flop he's been rendered basically useless. Doesn't defend either.

Dont remember what year but at one point he was 3rd in the league in FTA

That was before the league changed how they called fouls.

[LoneyROY]

Am I the only one that notices that Harden is 6 years younger, has nearly a 10% higher FG% and injury free.

You should also notice that this wasn't a straight deal of Harden for Martin.

[Bertrob]

Would have done it with both.

Probably not even then

[UnbelievablyRAW]

You guys are severely underrating Martin. He's not the type of guy who can carry a team (nor is Harden, lol at Rockets making the playoffs) but he's a guy who can complement an already good team and spread the floor nicely. Add Lamb to the mix and they have a nice 1-2 punch at the two spot or they can let Lamb run point and bring Sefolosha. OKC got better. Even if they don't win, they get lottery draft picks the next year.

Let's see Harden carry the team, because Lin is absolute hyped garbage and no one one else on that remotely good except for Parsons

[DusterBuster]

OKC improved.

It's WWAAAYYYY to early to start saying they improved or got worse. The ink on the trade is still wet for gods sake. Let the teams play before making any sort of judgment on that.

One thing we CAN make a judgement on is that this whole lockout we endured in 2010 was a complete joke. The idea it brought even the slightest bit of competitive balance back into the game is downright insulting to our intelligence. Thanks to insane TV deals for teams like the Lakers, they can still spend money like it's going out of style, but any team without lucrative TV deals can't even afford to keep their own players anymore.

It's a f**king travesty.

[Zona Zoo]

1 month and a day from today is Hardens first game in OKC against the Thunder, November 28th

[Yuri Vaultin]

Come on people, Lamb has the potential to be pretty good, but a star? come on

He has as much upside and harden

In what universe?

Harden was drafted 3rd overall. Lamb really has shown nothing. Harden is a stud.

[Wooderson]

People are overrating harden. He is AWFUL in the finals. Martin and Lamb plus 3 picks???

Lebron James had a horrible showing in the finals against San Antonio. How is that a basis for even rating a player's worth anyway?

Are you seriously comparing LeBron James being a one man team and San Antonio's defense (highlighted by Bruce Bowen) keying in on him to Harden who has two other superstars, one the second best player in the NBA to take pressure off of him?

Bottom line, Harden was exposed in the playoffs last year. And YES we can judge him on that.

Harden is overrated, and while he will still be good, without Durant and Westbrook garnering the lion's share of the defensive attention he will regress.

Exposed in the playoffs? What the hell are you talking about? He was awesome up until the Finals, where he had two extremely poor games against the best wing tandem in the league (including being forced to guard the best and most physical force in the league), and one game where he only played 20 minutes.

Since when do two crappy games going against LeBron James as a young player count as being exposed?

[therealbig3]

Who really cares about Martin's volume scoring when he can't create for himself at all? When he's not as efficient as Harden? When he can't create for others at all, while Harden is one of the best in the league at it?

People talking about Martin's volume scoring being an advantage over Harden...are you really trying to argue he's better offensively than Harden? And how is the offense going to do with Westbrook being the main ball handler and playmaker now, since Martin certainly can't do what Harden did in that role?

[Blame Rasho]

Come on people, Lamb has the potential to be pretty good, but a star? come on

He has as much upside and harden

He doesn't have as much upside as Harden if that is what you are trying to say... there is a reason despite he wasn't considered the clear best swing player in the draft like Harden was. Common... stop and think before you post.

[Neutral 123]

The OKC Thunder are a worse team right now. That cannot be disputed. They have likely lost their chance at a title. I cannot understand why they did this unless the only goal is to get lots of talented rookies and not pay them after the rookie contract ends. Small market...

I agree with this.

OKC did take a step back by trading Harden, but IMO Presti did it for the overall picture.

Presti valued Ibaka over Harden.
Presti valued Perkins + future picks + the downgrade from Harden to Martin/Lamb greater than Harden.

Durant and Westbrook are locked up for a few more years and aren't likely going to be players demanding trades within the next year or two.

While OKC took a step back this season, Presti is looking to set up the team to be even stronger and have an even brighter future within 2-3 seasons (when the possibility of Durant/Westbrook leaving is real...as they would be come UFA's)

He's playing with fire if he thinks this deal doesn't hurt keeping Durant and Westbrook longer term. I mean who would even want to deal with a franchise like that?

[East_Coast]

Excellent move by OKC. Didn't overpay, and got some great pieces.

For anyone saying that Harden should have been kept over Ibaka, n***a, please!

[ibraheim718]

Are people being ironic when they Kevin Martin is good

dude is straight garbage

Not only that... but he's injury prone garbage.

[djay]

They still have 2 top 15 player, including the 2nd best in the game. I think they moved into the 3rd place of those teams, but not out of them.

They're not better than the Clippers. Most people don't consider Clippers to be elite like Lakers/Heats.

CP3/Blake/Jordan vs Brook/Durant/Ibaka is a toss up.

[Prestige]

I get the picture that all 3 guys (Durant, Westbrook, and Harden) were never really concerned about Harden leaving. Durant and Westbrook were pretty nonchalant about possibly losing Harden in all their interviews, and neither of them left money on the table to ensure they would stay together. Harden also showed his immaturity by leaving for a few million if it was as little as Woj is reporting. All of them probably overestimate their own abilities and youthful pride prevented them from salvaging the situation.

All 3 will regret it, and I have a feeling that this will turn into one of those 'Vince/T-Mac what could have been' that Raptors fans know all too well. If OKC doesn't win a ring with Durant/Westbrook and Harden finishes his career as a perennial All-Star but without winning anything, this is going to be one of the biggest regrets of their respective careers.