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"However, Yahoo Sports reported that Harden turned down a four-year contract worth about $52 million, and the Thunder moved quickly to trade him after that."

was actually $55.5 million, $4.5 million less than the max deal he wanted and will get from the Rockets

Last edited by Trikster at 10/28/2012 2:36:48 AM

Wow, Harden is pretty dumb ain't he? Didn't he realise that OKC were on the verge of winning a ring and Houston might not ever win one during his career?

Its hard to value it up though...

Take $13.5mil now per year and have a chance to win a title with the team that drafted you and developed you. Or
get a max contract (15mil) now and establish yourself as a permanent starter and an All Star so you can show the world your silly looking short tie. Oh and the beard. Oh and more money from shoe endorsements.

Im thinking fair trade... for now.

I think if Martin/Lamb can provide Harden's points off the bench this season and maybe next then it is a huge win for OKC. You would think the two first rounders would be at worst middle of the first (I can't see houston doing any better than scraping in to 8th in the West), so imagine when KD/Westbrook are in their prime and you add a couple of quality first rounders to them ....

Agreed, excellent trade for OKC.

You're completely forgetting about Sefolosha here, they gonna play Lamb behind KD? Start Kmart and bench Sefolosha?

Trade makes massive sense for both team. Morey the GM in Houston has been setting up for a move like this for a while and he finally made it happen. They still have room to sign a max money FA this offseason or have the assets to trade for one if the situation presents itself. They will have a pretty nice core with Lin, Harden, Asik & another max guy (Josh Smith maybe?)

From OKC's end they are also well positioned. They are still young, have payroll flexibility, and got an excellent 3 point shooter in lamb (not elite like Harden but will give them 80-90% of his production at a fraction of the cost).

Also they are positioned to have a crack at landing a guy on an expiring deal to put them over the top this year if they think they can win it.

Follow me for a minute. If OKC think they can land one guy to win the title at the deadline they could offer up Martins expiring deal plus the 2 picks they got and their own and then bring in someone who contract is expiring and that doesn't want to resign where he is. This brings into play names like Howard, Smith, CP3, Evans and so on.

If they don't go this way they have cap room and picks after this season as Martin's number comes off the books.

All in all i think it was a great deal for Houston and a very smart and solid one for OKC

Wow, I saw the trade this morning and was intrigued.

I understand the trade deadline and all but i feel OKC are definitely rolling the dice on this deal, Martin is good but wow, hes no comparison to Harden. Lamb could shine, but you never know with rookies, and the draft picks are just a lottery.

Houston all of a sudden gets a young star, with unlimited starting potential and they didn't lose too much. Possibly a playoff team now for seasons ahead.

OKC prolly didn't have a choice financially, but i reckon they made a bad choice somewhere down the line. Perkins is getting older, serge prolly shouldn't of got as much as he did.

Harden prolly made a risky decision in knocking back the deal Okc offered, but I'm sure that money hungry agents were in his ear and prolly not expecting a trade so soon. Let's hope he doesn't do a a Odom and fail in Houston.

Howard won't be going anywhere. Signing a new contract in the off-season makes much more sense than an extension now. More money, more years.

In theory he won't be going anywhere but if the Lakers are not contending (say injuries to Kobe & Nash) and he flat out tells them he won't resign there then they could well move him rather than losing him for nothing.

Highly unlikely scenario i know but it is possible.

Also don't discount the fact that Josh Smith and Howard will end up on teh same team. Both are unrestricted FA's at years end and they are best friends (Howard was best man at Smith's wedding or vice versa). It wouldn't surprise me if they had a little pact going a la Bosh, Wade and Bron.