The Basketball world was taken by storm early Sunday morning as the Oklahoma City Thunder traded one of their young stars in Jams Harden to the Houston Rockets. Harden, who was one of their most efficient wing scorers and shot-makers was traded along with Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, and Lazar Hayward in exchange for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first round draft picks, and a second round pick.
This was a tough move to make for the Thunder who were looking to sign their top four players to long term contracts going forward. With the October 31 deadline approaching and both sides apart on an extension, the deal was made. In the past three seasons the Thunder signed Kevin Durant ,Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka to contract extensions. With the NBA’s new CBA calling for a high tax of $1.50 tax for every dollar over spent over the luxury tax.
Harden rejected contract offers of $53 million dollars and the Thunder refused to go higher setting their sights on the trade with the Rockets. The trade breaks up the nucleus of young talent that Executive Vice President, Sam Presti has drafted since joining the Thunder in 2007.
Harden was one of the NBA’s most efficient perimeter players averaging 16.8 points 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 49%(2nd in the NBA for Shooting Guards) from the field as well as 39% from the three point line. The Thunder used him in a Manu Ginobli role for them bringing Harden off the bench but playing him starters minutes and having him close games. That brought a dynamic to the team that made them very tough to beat.
For the Rockets this trade enables them to acquire one of the League’s top shooting guards to boost their scoring and efficiency. Houston tried desperately to acquire assets that could have landed them Dwight Howard this past off season but failed to do so as Howard was traded to The Lakers in a four team block buster this past summer.. Acquiring all-star players especially ones that are top 2-3 at their position is extremely difficult unless you have very high draft picks or assets to trade.
Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey will group Harden with newly acquired point guard Jeremy Lin and big man Omer Asik. They drafted Jeremy Lamb in his year’s draft, but obviously is a no brainer to trade him for a proven veteran and all-star talent in James Harden. Not only did they acquire Harden, but Cole Aldrich has been developing into a quality rotation player in the front court. I compare him to an Eric Montross type of player that could be a very serviceable second unit center to rebound, block shots, and physical presence.
Many people believe that this move will keep the Thunder from being a championship contender with the loss of Harden. No question by losing Harden this will b a big blow for the Thunder, but I think this will be a very good trade for them to continue to build for the future. In the short-term they acquire a proven scorer in Kevin Martin. He’s a different type of scorer than Harden is as Martin is an off the ball spot up shooter and isn’t the play-maker and pick and roll scorer than Harden was.He can play off of the Thunder stars and be a shot-maker and second unit scorer providing some fire power for them.
The trade enables the Thunder to resign their backup point guard Eric Maynor to a long term deal something that would have been impossible to do with signing Harden to a long term contract. They now have two very talented players in Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones on their rookie contracts for the next three seasons before they have to make decisions on them. Also Kevin Martin’s contract is expiring which they can use as a n asset at trade deadline or re-sign the player to a much lower number than his nearly $13 million dollar salary this season.
Obviously the Thunder lose the star power that they would have had with Harden, but acquire one of the NBA’s top 10 player’s from the 2012 Draft and a trade asset in Kevin Martin going forward. With Oklahoma being a small market team it could have been tough to sign Harden to a long term deal and have to pay all of that money not only in contracts but potential luxury tax payments. This gives them flexibility to sign other players on their roster as well as to use their salary exceptions on additional players to bolster their roster.
Trades are always tricky and you have to take a step back and evaluate the situation in which the trade was made and also look at all the assets involved with the trade. I myself don’t think James Harden is a max level contract player. His role that he played in OKC was great in the fact that he can play off of other players and be a shot maker and pick & roll scorer. What made him great was his ability to pass the ball when defenders helped off their men to stop his drives and he could find open teammates cutting or spotting up. The Thunder made a good decision here rather than have to match a max level offer sheet next summer or lose him in a sign and trade where usually the team trading away players only receives a trade exception and picks back in return.
The Thunder drew a line in the sand financially as far as what they were willing to spend. They found a trade the got them a player that can help them today in Kevin Martin and assets that can develop into pieces that can help them in the future in Jeremy Lamb and the two draft picks from Houston. The Rockets acquire a unique asset at the shooting guard spot in Harden. Harden gives them not only a shot-maker, but also one of the best passing shooting guards in the NBA. Harden will help Jeremy Lin who is a very high turnover prone guard. Having two playmakers in the line –up will give Houston a very unique look offensively. For the Rockets this is a very low risk move as Harden is a proven player that is one of the top 5 at his position. Even with cap room there was no guarantee they would have acquired a player at Harden’s level. This is a much more of a low risk move rather than giving two unproven players in Lin and Asik a combined $30 million dollars in year three of their respective deals.
This trade helps both teams acquire what they needed. As of now Houston is the only team in the deal that receives a proven commodities. The Thunder get flexibility and puts extra bullets in one of the best drafting general managers in the NBA’s gun with two pretty good draft picks. We will have to wait and see what happens, but with the regular season just days away it will definitely add some drama to this young 2012-2013 season.
