Original thread: https://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/the-rockets-have-landed-james-harden.227853/
Right before this trade the homies and I were talking about how beastly of a trio KD, Westbrook and Harden was on OKC. Then we got Harden.
I was heading to a Halloween party. I will never forget I was at my cousins house and we ended up a lot more lit than we originally planned on.
Yeah, I thought if Harden could become something resembling Demar Derozan, that would be good enough to entice other (better) superstars to play alongside him. I doubt anyone would have seen Harden become so good, at the time of the trade.
I was excited, without a real clue as to whether Harden would be a star (like what Eric Gordon was touted to be at the time), or if he would be another Ariza-style bust where we tried to shoehorn a role player into a starring role. Took me one game to make up my mind.
Yeah. Heck, I was out and about that day taking some relatives around Austin, and didn't post until page 40. How strange that seems now, actually having something approaching a normal day. Almost as unreal today as the trade (I'm mostly kidding). Daryl Morey's greatest trade, without any doubt whatsoever. Many called him a genius back then and how I miss the guy. I suspect that Harden misses him as well.
We were getting ready to go out to party for Halloween I believe.. got wasted at the bars. Forgot about the trade. Then woke up to The news again and celebrated all Over again lol
I was mainly happy because we were trading Martin but Harden was a player I liked. I think it was viewed as a steal from the start. But, after his first couple games it really made Morey look like a genius. Harden was the embodiment of Moreyball. Morey's biggest flaw was not keeping things closer to the vest. Now that the rest of the nba has people like him in their front offices, you could argue the only real advantage he had was having control of roster decisions while analytics folks are mostly managers right now. Maybe he realized that and stepped down when Tillman took away his biggest advantage.
I really hope Morey goes to the Knicks and has full control, just to show the world he can win a chip with a dumbass owner, just one that is willing to spend.
I thought Presti was going to tweet "#metoo" after that. We gave Lamb and Martin for a Hall of Famer? Didn't know he was going to be as amazing as he has been but after game 1 I knew we stole the best player from OKC!
Morey was trying this guy for atleast 12 months prior but given the Thunder were coming off the Finals appearance and Harden tore the Spurs hearts out in the conference finals no one thought they would not re-sign James.
I remember getting a text immediately from tinman - he was really worried about Harden taking touches away from Jeremy......
A lot for a possible rental. That’s when I figured every team tampers with other teams......and get away with it, Harden then signed an extension within the week before the season started.
"I can't believe OKC did this. There's no way this is a fair trade." "I can't believe we got Harden, this guy is gonna kill." "I don't know if Harden can be like a top-5 player in the league." Obviously, on that last thought, I was humbled.