On October 27, 2012, Daryl Morey acquired James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, and first round draft picks. With this trade the fortune of the Rockets went from being stuck in NBA Hell of having a mediocre team that was good enough to compete for a playoff spot but never in serious contention to a team, just a year later, on the cusp of returning to being a contender and hopefully champions. We went from a team that superstars would ignore and media people would question, to a team were the biggest offseason free agent wanted to play here and Daryl Morey and the Rockets front office is now highly regarded around the league. All this changed in one year with the addition of one player, James Harden. I remember the night I heard the news. I was pretty excited for the upcoming season, even though I knew it was going to be a rough year with the lack of proven talent on the team. I was excited to see our rookies get time to grow, to see if Jeremy Lin could recapture some Linsanity magic, and to see what Morey flip Kevin Martin to around the trading deadline but I really wasn't expecting anything good as in wins or national discussion. It was just going to be a year of growing and evaluating talent, just like the previous 3 years. But when I heard that James Harden was coming to Houston, I couldn't believe it! I didn't watch a lot of Thunder games but I knew James Harden was a good player and I didn't think Presti would trade him away. But honestly, I didn't know how he would perform his first year here. I put him down as 22ppg, 5rpg, 4apg which are good numbers but I was skeptical on whether he could be the superstar the Rockets needed in order to change their fortunes. 80 million is a lot to bet on a guy that you want to be a starter yet came off the bench for his career. But James Harden and Morey has proven every doubter wrong. James Harden at 80 million over 5 years is a bargain. He is now the 4th best player and best shooting guard in the league and has made Houston Basketball relevant again. And for that, I will always be thankful for having James Harden and the Rockets Organization as a whole as the team I support and love. So I just wanted to make this thread as a remembrance of that faithful night one year ago and for people to share how they felt about the trade. Thanks to Sam Presti for letting Morey morey you lolol. But seriously, kudos to Daryl for stinking with his plan even when everyone was doubting and wanted him fired, to Les Alexander for making this team that we are about to see tear up the regular season possible, and to James Harden for being the superstar Houston needed and such an amazing player!
Can't believe one year already passed so quickly. Time is fast. But I remember I was so excited when I heard news about Harden coming to Houston last year. I knew he would help Rockets become relevant again and I am glad we will keep him for awhile. Without Harden, I don't think Howard will be here.
I had just gotten married and heard about the harden trade. My reaction was OK, we will be good but not great. My wife also a big ball fan said he was going to take it to next level. She said he was restricted in OKc and would blow up in htown. Boy was she right. Happy anniversary to the harden trade, the beard is strong.
i found out during the first half of my basketball game, up their with one of the happiest moments i have felt in years all my teammates were hating on the trade but i knew the beard was legit.
I remember finding out late that night on the Yahoo home page. The top story showed that Harden had just been traded and somehow I knew without even clicking the link that it involved the Rockets. Suddenly I was no longer on the tank bandwagon.
I was one of the strongest proponent for Harden before the trade. I still remember a poll taken if CF members wanted Harden in a trade. The result? About 50/50. 50% of CF did NOT want Harden. My reasons? Only players with high ability in scoring draw fouls. Heck, if you can't score, no one will foul you. The more fouls they draw, the higher the tier. Harden was among the top in FTA's before the trade. A player who has the skill scoring and scores at highest efficient rate? Guarantee he is heading for stardom! I projected Harden would be a star, but I was utterly surprised that he reached his stardom in ONE year.
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LOL! Yeah, me too. When I saw Clutchfans' front page with Harden's picture wearing a Rockets cap, I thought it was either a joke, or the Rockets were just trying to pursue Harden and the image was just Photoshopped. I even closed the browser. I only realized that it was already a done deal a few hours later when I logged in again. Thank you, Morey... and Presti.
I remember being upset at first because we lost Jeremy Lamb and that Raptors pick that many people thought would be top 5. I didn't realize how young Harden was at 23, I thought coming in he was like 25.
I was at my old job and we all left our post to watch TV at the bar. Most of my coworkers were not Rockets fans and were negative towards the trade, saying Harden was way overrated, and I somewhat agreed. I wasn't high on Harden coming out of college and thought he had high bust potential. But then the Detroit game happened, and as Worrell said, "he makes it look so easy". He quickly changed my opinion of him and became one of my favorite players, and he truly changed the course of the Rockets and I fully believe him and Dwight will bring us another championship.
Damn man......I remember the shock,disbelief and excitement I felt when I saw the "breaking news" tab at the NBA webpage....never felt more hyped up than that very moment. Now let's go grab ourselves some titles!
