James Harden traded to the Rockets

[Phil89]

I don't think most people in this thread are portraying Harden as a villain, anyway. A few of us are wondering about the decision to leave what would appear to be a pretty good situation in Oklahoma City, which is a fair question to ask. That's hardly demonising him.

I think it's the fact that he said he would take less money to stay with this group. But then when it came to negotiations he wasn't willing to give up anything. Maybe he was annoyed that Ibaka got paid before he did, who knows. He wasn't willing to take a $1.5m per season pay cut to stay with a team that just made the finals (Thunder offered $54m/4yr, he supposedly wanted $60m/4yr). Apparently the Rockets can give him $75m/5yr, so he'll probably not be too bothered by being traded.

Personally I don't think he's worth $15m per season anyway. Maybe in the future, but not right now. I have no hard feelings towards him and I hope he fulfils his potential with the Rockets. Hopefully this doesn't affect Durant or Westbrook too much either.

[airBerlin]

Good for Harden, looking forward to seeing what he can do in Houston. The Rockets will be another one of the teams that I go out of my way to watch this season.

[SC1211]

Wooohooo! Couldn't be any more ecstatic as a Rockets fan!

Also, I posted this on my facebook on the day of the draft: Loved the Royce White pick, liked the Terrence Jones pick (a lot), didn't care for the Jeremy Lamb pick. Dude just doesn't have the bball IQ to make it in this league as a star. Welcome to HTown James! Fear the beard!

[_Steve_]

What the hell are the Rockets doing? Creating the most overpaid backcourt in the league?
Anyway, it was a good move by OKC. They couldn't beat last year's Heat with their former squad. And I doubt they would have won the finals against this year's improved Heat. Why not saving money and try something else?

[hova-]

I doubt that Harden is overpaid. We don't know about his leading ability yet and how he can produce when he has to start and play 35+ mpg, but from his talent package, he is one of the best shooting guards in the league (he comes right after Wade, Manu and Kobe). So the max deal does not overpay him, he still can get even better.

For the Thunder, right choice if you ask me. Why wait until the trading deadline and try to install new acquisitions between february and april when they can do it right now. Gives them more time and flexibility if something does not work out (like trading K-Mart's contract).

I don't like how Harden is playing for the money rather then for winning though. I mean, I know he has not made a lot of money yet (for an NBA player), but 50M or 60M I think a player willing to go back to the Finals and beat the Heat's ass would decide to take 10M less and get that ring. I know, it's easy for me to say this and 10M is a lot of money, but considering that the Rockets still won't make the postseason, I'd taken OKC over HOU for less money everyday.


Oh and X and Andrew, it's really a nice oldschool thing to facebook in the morning and seeing a status of somebody "As solid of a scorer as Kevin Martin is - I think that losing Harden is huge... and makes me even more confident about the Lakers this season." (it was Sit). I thought "wtf, did I miss something -> realgm.com "Harden traded to Rockets" Me: "Oh my god, I did not see that coming"

Feels like the old days a bit.

[_Steve_]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was surprised by the trade.

Well, I still think Harden might overpaid (and J. Lin is definitely even more overpaid) at the moment. Harden worked well within a winning team as the 3rd scoring option. In Houston he'll be #1. That's quite a difference. Nevertheless I wonder if Houston stopped rebuilding (via draft) and tries to build an environment to land a superstar free agent next off-season after missing on Dwight Howard.

For the Thunder, it will be interesting to see what will happen to K-Mart and how Lamb will develop (was a bit disappointed from what I've seen from him during preseason).

[Andrew]

He's a legit promising 23 years old player and there's this notion already that it's best for him to chase the ring as a 3rd, 4th, nvm actually as a bench guy and with sacrifice of money. If he was in late 20s, it would make much more sense to me but hey, some people just know what's best for him I figure.

Again, he's not exactly getting blasted for it by everyone. Most people in this thread aren't expressing disdain but rather surprise that he opted not to sign an extension with the Thunder and thus left what seems to be a pretty good situation. One might compare it to Trevor Ariza leaving the 2009 champion Lakers for the Rockets. He enjoyed a few weeks of putting up some decent numbers at the beginning of the 2010 season, before plummeting back to Earth. I'd deem Harden a superior player to Ariza so I'd suggest that he'll fare a lot better, but it may well turn out to be a case of the grass always being greener.

After all, it's not quite the same as LeBron and Bosh joining Wade in Miami, where three top players were joining forces and something good was bound to happen for them sooner or later. It's going to be tough for Harden - we're going to see just how good he is, without players like Durant and Westbrook around - but by that token, best of luck to him.

[Stress Fracture]

The trade really got me surprised. Of course I'm happy that we got Harden, but to let go of Lamb that early? And those 1st round picks would be very useful in the coming years.

Anyways, welcome to the Red Nation, Beard.

[Dark Cloud]

Surprising deal, but really interested to see how it works out specifically for Houston in the coming years. Wondering if Harden will be like Joe Johnson going from bench guy to top dog on his own club in the coming years. Hope it helps Lin too.

[shadowgrin]

One less flopper on the Thunder that's for sure.
With the loss of a flopper in Scola the Rockets made sure they get back another good flopper to replace him and Harden is their man.

[Houndy]

Lamb is the most underrated player in this deal; he has a TON of potential, and is the student of the game. Very raw and athletic, but OKC can fix him up

[deluxxe]

Not sure where this notion of people treating Harden like a villain is coming from. That's simply not the case.

[_Steve_]

Not sure where this notion of people treating Harden like a villain is coming from. That's simply not the case.

It's just the lack over understanding why he took the money instead of sticking with a contender...

[Houndy]

Okay, maybe he wants money over being a contender. He's only 23, of course he'll value money more. Although, taking 1.5 mill less wouldn't have been that bad.

But being honest, I feel as if Harden can lead a team. He was being squashed by Durant and Westbrook, and now he can lead a team of his own. Simple

[houston832]

He's a legit promising 23 years old player and there's this notion already that it's best for him to chase the ring as a 3rd, 4th, nvm actually as a bench guy and with sacrifice of money. If he was in late 20s, it would make much more sense to me but hey, some people just know what's best for him I figure.

Again, he's not exactly getting blasted for it by everyone. Most people in this thread aren't expressing disdain but rather surprise that he opted not to sign an extension with the Thunder and thus left what seems to be a pretty good situation. One might compare it to Trevor Ariza leaving the 2009 champion Lakers for the Rockets. He enjoyed a few weeks of putting up some decent numbers at the beginning of the 2010 season, before plummeting back to Earth. I'd deem Harden a superior player to Ariza so I'd suggest that he'll fare a lot better, but it may well turn out to be a case of the grass always being greener.

After all, it's not quite the same as LeBron and Bosh joining Wade in Miami, where three top players were joining forces and something good was bound to happen for them sooner or later. It's going to be tough for Harden - we're going to see just how good he is, without players like Durant and Westbrook around - but by that token, best of luck to him.

Houston didn't sign Ariza to be #1 though. He was brought in to be the 2/3 behind Yao and T Mac(both were still on the team when that signing happened). He didn't go to Houston to be more featured, he went for the money.

[Spree#8]

When it comes to giving up some money from his contract to stay with the Thunder, don't you think it might be a pride issue? I mean, everybody before him took max (Durant, Westbrook) or not max but still huge (Ibaka) contracts and didn't care that Harden would eventually have to sign a new contract and that it would probably be impossible without the Thunder paying a lot of luxury tax. Why does he have to be the one who sacrifices money to stay with the team? Simply because he's the last in line?

He might also be tired of being a third option. It must be tempting to have your own team and get all the spotlight instead of having it all taken by Durant and Westbrook. If he's as good as he thinks, that is. We'll see how he does as the focal point of the offense in Houston.

[Its_asdf]

It's funny how people portray Harden as a villain. He now has a team to himself and a big fat contract to sign. Like you guys would give up that kind of life just to ride Durant and Westbrooks' dicks. Oh... nvm abutthat.

I'm more appalled at the fact that he had the audacity to ask for max when a) his team obviously can't afford it and b) he blew so much dick and got exposed as a baddie in the playoffs.

[Martti.]

So the Rockets are paying the same to Asik-Lin-Harden in 2014-15 as the HEAT did to Wade-Bosh-James in 2010-11? Interesting...

Anyway, Harden should shine in Houston and I think he will, about 22-24ppg wouldn't surprise me at all, but the Rockets wouldn't be relevant. On OKC's side, I hope they play and develop Lamb. Harden was a good play-maker, Martin just scores (as does Durant and often Westbrook), will be interesting to see how that works out.

[houston832]

So the Rockets are paying the same to Asik-Lin-Harden in 2014-15 as the HEAT did to Wade-Bosh-James in 2010-11? Interesting...

No they're not.

Lin and Asik each have 8 million dollar cap hits for 3 years, Harden will get a max deal but max for a 4 year player is different than Lebron max. He'll be at right around 14 mil.

30 mil for Lin, Asik, Harden.

52 mil for LBJ, Bosh, Wade.

So about HALF as much.

[Houndy]

Yeah what my friend told me is that since their respective teams did not match the offer, the Rockets only have to pay the average of the total salary per year.

[Stress Fracture]

Lamb is the most underrated player in this deal; he has a TON of potential, and is the student of the game. Very raw and athletic, but OKC can fix him up

That is why I don't like the deal.

[Andrew]

Houston didn't sign Ariza to be #1 though. He was brought in to be the 2/3 behind Yao and T Mac(both were still on the team when that signing happened). He didn't go to Houston to be more featured, he went for the money.

I didn't say they signed him to be the number one option. As far as going for the money...

"I am happy with my decision," Ariza told The Times. "I'm glad this all worked out. The Rockets are going to give me a chance to improve my game and that's all you can ask for."

Ariza's agent, David Lee, said the 24-year-old forward passed up a more lucrative contract offer from another team to go to Houston. That team was believed to be Toronto.

"It was never about the money," Lee said. "It was about going someplace where you felt appreciated."

Obviously it's not the exact same situation, though I never said it was. If nothing else, Ariza was a free agent while Harden was traded after indicating that he didn't want to sign the extension that was on the table, but it comes down to leaving a pretty good situation for a more uncertain one due to factors such as money and one's role on the team. A player has every right to do that of course, but it's a surprising choice in some situations where the team presents good opportunities, the money is more or less the same and so on.

[Houndy]

Lamb is the most underrated player in this deal; he has a TON of potential, and is the student of the game. Very raw and athletic, but OKC can fix him up

That is why I don't like the deal.

Hopefully Harden can show he can lead a team, I'm not too sure if Lin can be the leader of his team. If that doesn't work, then the Rockets gave up a promising rook

[Dc311]

In last years playoffs commentators or writers always compared him with Ginobili.I hope that stops because Ginobili has never been greedy.That is all i'll say about him.

[NovU]

But Ginobili is still a better flopper than Harden ever could be.

I don't see anything wrong with Harden rejecting the offer. Actually, Spree#8 already put up some good point as well aside from the issues of money and being the bench player. If anything, the Thunder should have borrowed his service for a season to contend at the level they did last season, and see if they can change his mind. Or sign him to whatever he wants and trade him later. The move came too early in my opinion.