OKC Thunder trade James Harden to Houston

[Death2CasselFans]

Jim Presti pulls a *****

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.

Link

[ChiefsCountry]

Now at the tradeline you flip Martin and those 1sts for something even better.

[Archie F. Swin]

IIRC...Harden was not much of a factor in the Finals. Of course, he got his shit rocked by Meta World Puss before that.

[Predarat]

Not sure if I like this trade, its decent for the long term, but they were not too far from winning it all last season so this makes little sense. I don't follow the NBA much until the playoffs so I may be off base.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Fruit Ninja

its a good trade in the long run. short term maybe not. HE did NOT pull a *****.

He pulled a Belichick.

When Belichick traded Richard Seymour, he really hurt his team's chance to win a championship that year (and potentially undermined it altogether). He got very good value for the player, a guy he knew was likely to walk anyway, but in the process he took a very valuable contributor from his roster and diminished his championship chances substantially that season.

Presti did the same here. I'm not convinced that the Thunder a championship caliber team without Harden. Just like that Patriots team, they still have their motor and they still have his top dog running mate. They still have the look of a team that can win it all.

But the Pats desperately needed Seymour down the stretch and his absence was glaringly obvious against the Pats toughest opposition.

I applaud Presti for getting nice value for his player (though it's the NBA; first round picks past 10 are about like 3rd round picks in the NFL). That said, I almost wonder if he shouldn't have just held onto Harden, made his championship push and then done a sign/trade for less overall value in the offseason (but get one more season of Harden out of it).

[58-4ever]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He pulled a Belichick.

When Belichick traded Richard Seymour, he really hurt his team's chance to win a championship that year (and potentially undermined it altogether). He got very good value for the player, a guy he knew was likely to walk anyway, but in the process he took a very valuable contributor from his roster and diminished his championship chances substantially that season.

Presti did the same here. I'm not convinced that the Thunder a championship caliber team without Harden. Just like that Patriots team, they still have their motor and they still have his top dog running mate. They still have the look of a team that can win it all.

But the Pats desperately needed Seymour down the stretch and his absence was glaringly obvious against the Pats toughest opposition.

I applaud Presti for getting nice value for his player (though it's the NBA; first round picks past 10 are about like 3rd round picks in the NFL). That said, I almost wonder if he shouldn't have just held onto Harden, made his championship push and then done a sign/trade for less overall value in the offseason (but get one more season of Harden out of it).

These are all strong points. However, one of those first rounder picks is a guaranteed lottery pick, so who knows how well that will go.

Secondly, Harden was valuable because he was a strong scorer when Westbrook and Durant needed a breather. He became "the man" during those times and often opened up the game because of his ability to dish the ball.

Overall, I agree with your point that the Thunder are probably a little worse now, but Martin will score and provide a punch off the bench, and I'll rely on the past and future success of Presti in the draft. He did get Serge in the 20s.

[DJ's left nut]

Simmons weighs in:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...arden-disaster

I agree with him - this just wasn't a good deal for Oklahoma City.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by okcchief

I still like Harden. I think it's more about wanting to be the guy than money. I'm honestly not sure he's good enough to be the guy.

The worst thing about Thunder fans is many are OU fans, and yes they are whinny bitches. That goes for pretty much all fan bases though.

Be interesting to see how Harden does when he is running with Jeremy Lynn and whoever else Houston has instead of Durantula and Westbrook.

[ChiefsCountry]

History says Durant wasn't going to win anyway until he is 27/28. Ironically that is the age that the elite quarterbacks start winning Super Bowls.

[Bump]

pretty good Rocket debut for Harden. Holy shit

[ekf028]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Really? A guy gets his dream shot to start, plus he's leaving a podonk town for Houston with millions more in his pocket?

I'd rather live here in podonk Oklahoma than ****ing Houston

[RedDread]

Originally Posted by Bump

pretty good Rocket debut for Harden. Holy shit

Incredible start, wonder if he can be the guy the whole season.

[okcchief]

Way to go beard! Until you play OKC