Everyone is talking about it, was the Harden trade a great trade or a bad trade? Lets talk about what We Gave Away 1. Kevin Martin's expiring contract. He didn't want to be part of the team, and most of us didn't want him either. Jeremy Lamb was showing signs of potential, but is still too small/skinny to really make some noise. He was our 3rd string Sg as of today. He is still a project as of this date. Picks: The Dallas pick is top 20 protected till i believe 2018, so they won't really get that till way down the road. The Charlotte pick, interestingly, originally belonged to the Thunder. It was the pick they were forced to give to the Celtics due to the Jeff Green trade because of his condition. So we just gave them back what was theirs. The Toronto Pick, Everyone is saying this is where we crossed the line. We should have kept the pick. It is a lottery protected pick, Top-3 Protected and 15-30 Protected in the 2013 Draft, top-2 protected and 15-30 protected in 2014, top-2 protected and 15-30 protected in 2015, top-1 Protected and 15-30 protected in 2016, top-1 protected and 15-30 Protected in 2017 and unprotected in the 2018 Draft. The way they have been playing, with a great core of Kyle Lowry, Landry Fields, Demar Derozan, Ed Davis, and Jonas Valanciunas, and role players like Bargani and Calderon, this team will not be a bottom 5 anytime soon. What We Got Cole Aldrich- He has only been in the league for 2 years, and has been pretty good when on the court. I liked this pickup, because he is 6'11, so he adds another big man coming off the bench behind Asik. He averaged about 6 minutes a game, with 2.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 blocks. Per 36 minutes last season, 10 ppg, 10 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. Now i'm not saying he's better than dh12, but the guy has a lot of potential, especially as a backup center. Keep in mind he is 24. James Harden - Now what this man brings to the table, is great. Young, full of potential, and already by most considered an All-star. He can create his own shot, and shoot the ball from deep. I believe he has not even come close to peaking, and will have a breakout season this year. After his disappearance in the Nba Finals, He went in with Team U.S.A to win the gold. He grew, he learned from his peers. I think he realized what he is capable of, he didn't want to be a 3rd option, because he knew he could be better. It was more than just about the money. He wanted to be the leader that Durant is in OKC. Now with that said, The Rockets are now the Youngest team in the NBA with an average of exactly 24.0 years and 2.2 of experience. If Harden steps us as a leader, this team will surpass OKC in about about 2 years. Yes, he is going to make that big of a difference. Even if he was selfish and took more money here, this guy is an humble guy, he wasn't making a lot of noise either, just like Durant or Rose (well till now). This season, we will either sneak into the playoffs, or just miss them, again. But come next season, We will be a top 6 team in this conference.
if someone can put morey's head here, i will rape them till they cry. sorry, i mean rep. yeah. rep them till they cry
I agree, I like the trade. At first I was a bit shocked but really looking at it, the Raptors pick is the part of it that could bite us in the ass. KMart is a good player but he's just strikes me as having this loser type stink that isn't easily done away with. Every team he's been on he gets his points but his team sucks. He seems to have a bit of an attitude and he's a terrible defensive player. The way the refs call the games now seems to have hurt his game a great deal as well. Lamb is going to be a good player I feel but nothing the caliber of Harden. You have to give up talent to get talent and due to Harden's age, talent level, and the fact that he already has playoffs and Finals experience, this is a great trade.
I know this is hard to say cause of what just happened, but i really think Harden is a Loyal guy. He just didn't want to be a 3rd option, and wanted his time to shine. While Kmart, doesnt strike me as a team guy, he just cares about himself, and nothing else, and that showed this last season.
Did James have any say in coming here? I'm assuming he had final word on where OKC traded him since there was reported several offers on the table from teams.
Why would you assume that? I doubt he had any input at all. The Thunder were only concerned about the Thunder.
the rockets wouldnt make this deal if harden had no intention to sign long-term here, so yes, harden did have some input.. in a wink-wink "yeah ill sign an extension" kind of way..
He didn't have a say, but per the wojnarowski article it seems that he knew if he turned down the contract, he would be shipped off to Houston.
Terrible trade...unless you are a big fan of mediocrity. God forbid we go 21 and 60 one year and have empty seats...far better that we go 38- 44 FOREVER!
No way Harden had any input at all. Morey has been in Presti's ear for months about a deal for Harden and now it's paid off. Harden would have signed his extension anywhere so long as it was for the max.
We will probably be mediocre this year and likely get another low level lottery pick, but this trade was about next year and beyond. We will add another max-cap guy next year and with Harden, Lin, Asik, TJones, Parsons, and White will have a pretty good core of guys. There is a lot to be excited about.
Those of you bashing the trade because of "mediocrity"... WHAT do you expect? Seriously what do you realistically expect would make the team better than getting a 23 year old olympian with finals experience?!?!?! I would love to know! Quit the b****ing about mediocrity for at least a few months. Do you NOT want the team to progress? Are you afraid of player growth? There is no reason to go 10-72 just for the sake of it. What do you think the chances are that we draft a better player than James Harden with the 2013 2-8 pick? Get a grip tankers. The season hasn't even started yet and we're still complaining about mediocrity..
Yeah, i mean we can expect mediocrity for now. and have 2 people stand out, one being harden, and someone else to put up numbers whether it be lin, jones, or asik. if we do that, we can sign another max contract later on. This teams age Average if freaking 24. give them time to grow, this isnt the rockets team of the past, these are players full of star potential, not role player potential.
I thought daryl morey said he and coach had a talk with james already, i'm pretty sure they had agreed something about that
I was in favor of tanking so I'm not insensitive to this sentiment. However, Harden is a truly elite scorer. He's amazingly efficient and can create his own shot in a variety of ways. And he's only 23. He's got the potential to be a top 10 player. Not only that, he's healthy, has a good attitude, will be under contract for a LONG time, and is popular with other stars. The Decision was deceptive because it's really warped a lot of people's perception of how infrequently players can be acquired. Superstars are the most valuable commodity in the NBA and they're almost never available. When you get an opportunity to acquire one, you jump on it and worry about everything else later - especially if you give up as little as we did.
