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James Harden Traded to Houston


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#1 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 10:22 PM

http://espn.go.com/n...houston-rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded James Harden, Daequan Cook, Lazar Hayward and Cole Aldrich to the Houston Rockets for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin and future draft picks, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.

The Thunder were unable to come to terms with their star swingman Harden on a contract extension and chose to break up their star trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden.


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#2 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 10:26 PM

Long-term, OKC got a pretty good return. But I'd have kept Harden and gone for the title this year.

EDIT: ESPN is saying the picks are two 1st-rounders and a 2nd. I would imagine the firsts are protected in some way, or else this was a terrific deal for OKC.

#3 SportsGuy

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 10:53 PM

Brilliant long term move by OKC. There GM believes in building through the draft...plus, I think Lamb has huge upside.

Martin can score, so they don't lose much, if anything, there.

I don't think this will hurt their chances of winning a title this year either.

#4 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:07 PM

I don't think this will hurt their chances of winning a title this year either.


Not sure about that. Martin can score, but he can't do much of anything else, and I don't know how well he'll fit with Westbrook and Durant. Agree on Lamb though, he could end up being a good one....just not sure if that will be good enough for this year. I understand OKC was probably going to lose Harden one way or another, and they did get a nice return, but I think this sets back their title hopes a bit.

#5 SportsGuy

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:15 PM

Not sure about that. Martin can score, but he can't do much of anything else, and I don't know how well he'll fit with Westbrook and Durant. Agree on Lamb though, he could end up being a good one....just not sure if that will be good enough for this year. I understand OKC was probably going to lose Harden one way or another, and they did get a nice return, but I think this sets back their title hopes a bit.

I think they are better off with Martin and Lamb right now.

Harden isn't really a better rebounder than Martin and Harden isn't known for his defense or being a great shooter.

Personally, I feel he is a little overrated and some team is going to give him a dumb contract.

#6 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:18 PM

I think they are better off with Martin and Lamb right now.

Harden isn't really a better rebounder than Martin and Harden isn't known for his defense or being a great shooter.

Personally, I feel he is a little overrated and some team is going to give him a dumb contract.


We'll see about Harden, since he'll be The Man in Houston now....even though it's unlikely they make the playoffs regardless of how good Harden is. And considering what they just gave up, you can count on the Rockets being the team that gives him that dumb contract. ;)

#7 SportsGuy

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:22 PM

We'll see about Harden, since he'll be The Man in Houston now....even though it's unlikely they make the playoffs regardless of how good Harden is. And considering what they just gave up, you can count on the Rockets being the team that gives him that dumb contract. ;)

Yep...Houston has been dying to get a star and give up those draft picks.

They should have waited it out and gotten a better player. Now, they lose picks, will give a max deal to a second tier(at best) player and won't have much to go with him.

#8 Mike B

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:28 PM

Really like the deal for OKC. Lamb and Martin (combined) may be able to duplicate what Harden did off the bench.
They may wind up in the lottery if Houston is as bad as I think.
OKC could not afford to pay Harden, what he wanted and they get what I think is a good young player in Lamb and a good bench player in Martin.
I had to stop to see if Ernie Grunfeld got the Rockets job.
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#9 SportsGuy

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:28 PM

Just heard that OKC offered him 4.5 million less than max deal and he said it had to be the max.

Now, Houston will give him the max deal by Wed according to Mark Stein.

#10 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:32 PM

I had to stop to see if Ernie Grunfeld got the Rockets job.


No, but it was the same guy who ripped apart the whole team to try and trade for Dwight Howard. Of course if Orlando's GM wasn't equally as stupid, the plan would have worked and Howard would be wearing a Rockets uniform right now.

#11 Mike B

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:33 PM

Just heard that OKC offered him 4.5 million less than max deal and he said it had to be the max.

Now, Houston will give him the max deal by Wed according to Mark Stein.

I heard the same thing. Is Harden really a max player? I do not think so. A good player who is helped by playing with a bonafide star and a point guard who is close.
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#12 Mike B

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 11:34 PM

No, but it was the same guy who ripped apart the whole team to try and trade for Dwight Howard. Of course if Orlando's GM wasn't equally as stupid, the plan would have worked and Howard would be wearing a Rockets uniform right now.



The NBA is a flawed league where GM's trash their team to get a shot at a big name.
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#13 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 07:34 AM

To me this makes LA the clear West favorite. I had been giving OKC the edge due to youth and continuity. Harden played an important role as the pg in close late situations. Harden was dumb and selfish not to take the near max deal. Now instead of regular contention, he will struggle to make Houston a playoff team. Good return for him though.

#14 SBTarheel

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 08:37 AM

To me this makes LA the clear West favorite. I had been giving OKC the edge due to youth and continuity. Harden played an important role as the pg in close late situations. Harden was dumb and selfish not to take the near max deal. Now instead of regular contention, he will struggle to make Houston a playoff team. Good return for him though.


They do get Eric Maynor back this year from his knee injury..He'll run the point if they want to move Westbrook to the #2 or sit him down the stretch.
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#15 SportsGuy

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 08:41 AM

I heard the same thing. Is Harden really a max player? I do not think so. A good player who is helped by playing with a bonafide star and a point guard who is close.

No, he's not a max player.....no good enough.

Even if this does hurt OKCs chances this year, they are positioned well long term as Miami and LA get older.

Lamb, PJ3, Ibaka, all those picks plus 2 of the top 10 players in the game? And the one pick is Torontos I think, so that's good for them.

#16 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 08:43 AM

They do get Eric Maynor back this year from his knee injury..He'll run the point if they want to move Westbrook to the #2 or sit him down the stretch.


Ahh, good point Seth. Forgot about that. Reggie Jackson, and Perry Jones III could also help replace Harden's overall production.

#17 PD24

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 11:25 AM

I think they are better off with Martin and Lamb right now.

Harden isn't really a better rebounder than Martin and Harden isn't known for his defense or being a great shooter.

Personally, I feel he is a little overrated and some team is going to give him a dumb contract.


Come on Rob. This is clearly a good deal long-term but they are absolutely no way better off in 2012 with this move.
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#18 SBTarheel

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 12:44 PM

I agree that Harden is a bit overrated. He's a nice piece to have, no question, but I don't think he's even close to "elite", or can lead a bad team like Houston.

I love the deal for the Thunder, short and long term.
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#19 SportsGuy

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 01:11 PM

Come on Rob. This is clearly a good deal long-term but they are absolutely no way better off in 2012 with this move.

Why? What is Harden giving them that they can't replace, both with this deal and what they have coming in?

I think they are a better team today than when the season ended last year.

#20 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 01:18 PM

Why? What is Harden giving them that they can't replace, both with this deal and what they have coming in?

I think they are a better team today than when the season ended last year.


I do like Kevin Martin. Interested to see what Lamb, and Perry Jones III bring them.




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