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Can somebody familiar with the CBA explain the Harden trade to me from OKC's perspective?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by bmd, Aug 26, 2014.

  1. bmd

    bmd Member

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    Why did they trade Harden in return for so little? Why did they get rid of him at all? What was their thinking and reasoning?
     
  2. Andre0087

    Andre0087 Member

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  3. King901

    King901 Member

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    Correct. OKC didn't feel like he was max material. They didn't want to lose him for nothing, so they traded him.
     
  4. bmd

    bmd Member

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    Can you expand on that?
     
  5. Pizza_Da_Hut

    Pizza_Da_Hut I put on pants for this?

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    They got KMart, Steven Adams, and Lamb. All that for a 6th man isn't bad, especially seeing as how KMart himself isn't a bad 6th man. I don't think they got as little as you make it seem.
     
  6. YaoMing#1

    YaoMing#1 Member

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    They didn't realize james was a top 5 talent in the nba. That's own their front office for not doing their homework on him like DM.
     
  7. Pieman2005

    Pieman2005 Member

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    At the time, it wasn't a bad trade. But 20/20 hindsight, it was terrible.
     
  8. CertifiedTroll

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    It is my belief that they over valued J Lambs potential. I remember at the time, a lot of people were unsure if JHarden was worth taking for a max, and giving up Lamb for him. Also, the pick we traded them was good pick. The draft class just sucked.
     
  9. bmd

    bmd Member

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    But none of those guys are comparable to Harden.

    They just didn't want to pay him?
     
  10. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    Yes. Plus, like was said earlier - money. They didn't want to pay him max.
     
  11. kjayp

    kjayp Contributing Member

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    Cheap owner didn't want to go into luxury tax, so they could resign Harden then or Ibaka in the future... they chose Ibaka... given the orientation of their roster, Ibaka filled a greater need - and James was undervalued (who knew? - of yeh, Morey! ;) lol)
     
  12. jordnnnn

    jordnnnn Member

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  13. RocketsJumer

    RocketsJumer Member

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    It was a combination of a lot of things, but it was primarily due to the Thunder's owners being cheap and did not to pay the luxury tax. Their lost though, because of that decision, they stopped OKC from being a dynasty for the next decade and will probably lose Durant and Westbrook if they don't win in the next couple of years.

    OKC and Presti knew James was going to be special player. Maybe not a top 5 MVP candidate special but there's no denying they valued him very highly.

    The money just wasn't right with OKC already giving max contracts to Durant and Westbrook and a near max contract to Ibaka. They hoped Harden would accept an Ibaka like contract rather than the max, and when Harden didn't, they rushed to trade him and get value.

    On the Rockets's offer, the offer gave OKC the best of all aspects. They got a fill in replacement in Martin to help them continue their championship run, a young talent in Lamb and a very good draft pick. During that time, Lamb was considered steal of the draft even thought he was drafted 12th overall and even more people were higher on that draft pick we got from Toronto, which was projected to be a top 8 pick.

    A lot of people felt that the trade was a win-win for both teams. Houston finally got a cornerstone talent and OKC got a replacement, young talent and a 1st. It was only after Harden exploded for 37 and 12 then 45 that people were starting to see how lopsided the trade was going to be.
     
  14. CDrex

    CDrex Contributing Member

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    Ibaka was due a 7 figure yearly contract. Harden was due a 7 figure yearly contract. Had they retained both, they were in a situation where more or less the only way to stay under the luxury tax was to amnesty Perk and not sign anyone to a deal above the min for several years. They chose Ibaka over Harden and they chose flexibility over rolling the dice on a locked-in Big 4 with a weak bench. They could have had it all if they were willing to roll into luxury tax for a few years, and they'd have a title now if you ask me.
     
  15. DrNuegebauer

    DrNuegebauer Member

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    Basically they put their hand in the fire one too many times, and got burned.

    They got extremely lucky in acquiring premium talent via the draft, and they felt like a veteran scorer, young talent, and future draft picks, would be a better option than Harden.

    They didn't really 'need' Harden to be an all-star for them, what they needed was a solid 6th man who could provide some scoring punch.

    The sad thing (for OKC) is that if they had their time over I'm sure they would try and get Asik in the deal over the picks. He'd fit their team so much better...
     
  16. Voice of Aus

    Voice of Aus Contributing Member

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  17. Pat

    Pat Contributing Member
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    They didn't think three max contracts was a sustainable long term model and decided to keep Durant and Westbrook and let Harden go largely for future assets. Worked out well for Rockets.
     
    #17 Pat, Aug 26, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2014
  18. bandwagon

    bandwagon Member

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    It was about MONEY, and only about MONEY. There is no other explanation. People can make excuses about luxury taxes or the value of a 6th man or whatever. It's all BS. It was MONEY, and only about MONEY.

    Why?

    Because the Thunder could easily have amnestied Kendrick Perkins, and use the freed-up cap space to offset much of Harden's cap impact. In fact, their salary cap situation would've been much healthier with Harden's contract than with Perkins/Martin/Lamb.

    But their owner is cheap. He didn't want to pay the entirety of Perkins' amnesty contract and Harden's as well. So he decided to dump Harden and keep Perkins, rather than pay both. It was all about MONEY, and if people believe otherwise they're just eating up BS from the Thunder's PR department.
     
  19. glynch

    glynch Contributing Member

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    Penny wise; dollar foolish. They thought they were saving a million or two a year when all the championships and finals they have lost out on would have repaid that many times over and put OKC, an otherwise drab city, in the limelight for a decade. Just stupid.

    Otherwise you can just view it as not realizing how good Harden is.

    It would be sort of like Chandler Parsons becomes a perennial All Star and not merely a slightly above average starting SF.
     
  20. traveler

    traveler Member

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    lol

    If I could rep...
     

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