Rockets trade for Harden?

[GunsUp_ShootinBlanks]

Interesting. According to Adrian Wojnarowski's twitter Houston gets Harden, Adridge, Cook, and Lazr Haywood for K-Mart, Jeremy Lamb and future draft considerations. I must say I like Harden 100x more than K-Mart.

 

[huskers1217]

Would be a good trade

 

[tabascojet]

OKC hates hardens

 

[raptorlife4]

Hardens a great player
Remains to be seen if he can produce without 2 legit superstars playing beside him

 

[wildturkey]

Good lord. Houston just got away with robbery. OKC just knocked themselves out of the Finals. Lakers, Spurs, and Denver are all better now. OKC should have sucked it up and paid Harden

 

[GunsUp_ShootinBlanks]

Hardens a great player
Remains to be seen if he can produce without 2 legit superstars playing beside him

I'm sure he will do fine. Feels nice getting rid of a defensive liability.

 

[wildturkey]

Yeah, Harden is an all-star caliber player. Don't be fooled by his poor Finals performance. OKC just traded him away for a gunner that got numbers on bad teams and future picks that are 50/50 at best to pan out.

EDIT:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8486795/the-harden-dilemma

^Simmons wrote this a few days. He sums up my feelings. I don't buy OKC's small market excuse (for the exact reasons he laid out). I can't believe they traded away a championship team this quickly. OKC fans should ask Phoenix how saving dollars over championships worked out

 

[TexasMan]

4 year 60 mil extension?

 

[raptorlife4]

I dont know why OKC would trade him now.
He was a huge part of last years team.

 

[GunsUp_ShootinBlanks]

I dont know why OKC would trade him now.
He was a huge part of last years team.

Probably decided Ibaka was more important in terms of who they wanted to pay.

 

[GunsUp_ShootinBlanks]

4 year 60 mil extension?

I certainly hope so.

 

[raptorlife4]

Rockets gave up alot for him though
Those 2 first rounders on top of 2 pretty good players
OKC can use those 1st rounders as bait at the deadline for talent

 

[GunsUp_ShootinBlanks]

Meh. The Toronto pick could be costly, but I like their talent and think they could be in the playoff race. Dallas is top 20 protected so it is basically useless.

 

[TexasMan]

Looks like I'm rooting for Lowry and the Raptors this year too.

 

[wildturkey]

I retract my "robbery" comment. I overlooked the 2 first rounders initially. But its still a dumb trade for OKC. Harden was the key to their team. KD is the star but when Westbrook was out of control, which he's prone to do, they relied on Harden to save games and balance everything out. He even initiated the offense in key situations by bringing the ball up the floor as a pseudo-PG. Until they prove me wrong, this was a dumb move. I had OKC going back to the Finals. Now I say Lakers and Spurs are better. Nugs and Clips are pretty close to OKC as well.

Also, there's a good chance that Toronto pick won't be anything but a mid-rounder. I think they've got a good shot at getting the 8th seed in the East.

For Houston, they still need another star. They're still a lottery team with just Harden. Howard will reup with LA so it might be a couple of years before they can get another guy. Maybe CP3 next summer (doubtful) but my guess is they'll target Kevin Love in 2014

 

[Wishbone]

It's a good deal for Okc. The Thunder had to decide if they wanted to pay Ibaka or pay Harden. They chose Ibaka and that was probably the right move as Okc is stacked with perimeter players. 2 first rounds picks in basketball is big.

 

[LeaderOCola]

aren't the picks highly conditional ?

 

[tech_iceman]

15 mil/year for a career backup?



he's good, but not worth that kind of cash... someone could get burnt by a contract like that

 

[Smoke]

It's being reported that OKC offered Harden a 4 year $55 deal, in which he turned down.
Hmm...

 

[tech_iceman]

give him that money and he'll get injured and/or bust