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

They also got Alex Abrines SG from Fc Barcelona and Mitch Mcgary.

 

Big if but if OKC decided to keep Harden he wouldn't reach the status that he has today. No with KD or Westbrook on the same team. They made the right desicion Ibaka is more valuable for them. Now the question is what other offers were out there? Would you pay your sixth man max money? Steve Adams had a good rookie year plus remember bigs development is slower than other positions, the trade definitely benefit us right away but who know who has the last laugh. Hopefully is us.

 

Google "Bill Simmons" and "Harden trade".

 

I think some are overplaying the "he was only a 6th man". He was the #3 pick in the draft, an All-American in college, a 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2012 6th Man of the Year and was still only 22 years old. Terrible trade for OKC. Adams looks to be a decent rotation player, Martin is gone, and Lamb hasn't progressed.

 

The Wizards had a decent offer on the table. Bradley Beal is pretty good.

I wonder if it ever entered the minds of OKC's braintrust that good buddy Harden in DC might help lure Durant home when the time came.

Yeah, I'm probably reaching.

 

Zach Lowe really knows Bball, I just wish he mentioned that the Thunder were bought @ 350 mill just 8 years ago and now I'd be SHOCKED if they couldn't sell it for at least 1.5 billion.

Also the fact that they CHOSE to leave Seattle for a much tinier market in OKC.

It all comes down to money and they were morons for not being willing to pay AT MOST an extra $50 mill over the course of Harden's contract (between contract & lux tax) for a chance at multiple titles and much more return on value of franchise.

 

I think it's fair to mention that OKC already had Durant and Westbrook. Westbrook is still considered by most to be a better player than Harden. I don't think that OKC understood how good a player Harden is, but I believe that Ibaka is truly worth more to the Thunder than Harden is.

They would have had the best 1-3 punch, probably one of the best in NBA history, but still very little defensive presence without Ibaka. I believe OKC made the right move in trading Harden but undeniably a dumb move in what they got in return.

I am a huge Harden supporter but believe Westbrook is a better player (by a little). I'm sure this population is ever-growing considering the hate Harden has gotten this offseason. He may prove me wrong in the future.

 

Harden wasn't seen as one of the league's best guards back then, he showed potential but at the end of the day he was just a 6th man in OKC behind Thabo Sefalosha, playing him alongside KD and WB didn't work as well because Harden was pretty much useless without the ball in his hands, his D was bad and his spot up shooting was on par with Thabo. On the other hand, Houston was offering a very attractive package, a guaranteed lottery pick, a promising Kmart clone and a "win now" player in Kmart who was seen as one of the league's more efficient scorers with a TS% that's only a few percentage points behind Harden's.

That's the trade from bball perspective, from the $$$ perspective you can look at Zach Lowe's article where he explained 4 max contracts is not doable.

Also to the other poster OKC was the one who wanted to trade Harden for Bradley Beal, they approached them first before they got in touch with Morey. It was the Wiz braintrust who shot it down.

 

Also Harden wanted to be a starter, would not have gotten that opportunity in OKC so he might not have taken the max if offered to him by the Thunder.

 

pretty much the only reason, i always wondered why they never had him as a starter, that starting 5 would have been awesome.

 

Cheapskate owner didn't want to pay the luxury, simple as that.

 

A big part of the problem was that they had Perkins on the books already and he was due over $7 million that year, which essentially made it impossible to trade him as no one wants to take a hit like that for a player of his caliber.

 

Harden still hasn't proved himself in the playoffs. I don't blame OKC for not paying him.

 

with OKC he has. Non-story for me.

 

2012 Western Conference Finals

 

Harden wanted to stay at OKC. He did say in an interview after the trade that he was already sacrificing PT and point production, he thought he shouldn't sacrifice money as well.

Last negotiation was he was willing to accept the salary OKC was offering but could they include a trade kicker? He didn't want to sacrifice and then get sent off to another team (like what happened to Steve Nash was the frequent example given). OKC refused to give him the trade kicker. The rest is history.

OKC could have kept WB, KD, Ibaka and Harden. Perkins should have been amnestied.

OKC didn't realize the championship window closes very quickly.

 

okc arguably won this trade.

- james harden has no killer instinct in the playoffs which we've seen.
- steven adams is a legit big man with solid defense and rebounding.
- we haven't even see what jeremy lamb can do yet.
- also, kevin martin was the perfect complementary player for that team.

they were in WIN NOW mode and if russell westbrook doesn't get hurt by patrick beverley, okc makes it to the finals.

james harden may be an ultra talented player but he can't get that many minutes or touches on that team. good trade for okc.

 

You are nothing but negativity, why are you here.

 

Spoiler

He did well in the playoffs for OKC. You could argue he can't carry a team in the playoffs based on his Rockets performances, but he wouldn't have had to do that in OKC.

I'm pretty high on Adams too, but so far all he's done is averaged 3 ppg and 4 rpg. I do think he could be a solid starter where he is only needed as the 4th or 5th best player on a team, but he's not a guy you build around.

So again, this is nothing but potential. When given some opportunities last year, he didn't come through. Maybe he'll be good in a few years, but who knows.

If you're just going to use a "potential" argument for Lamb and Adams, you could use the same "potential" argument for Harden becoming a great go-to guy in the playoffs.

He was, theoretically. In the end, he just played one inconsequential year there then moved on. He also didn't step up in the playoffs that year when he was sorely needed.

They are in WIN NOW mode, which makes trading for 2 young guys who might be good in a few years seem a little odd, no?

 

There is no guarantee they would have won a ring with harden either. It was a salary dump. They didn't want to pay him.