James Harden Traded To Rockets. REACTION!!! (merged)

[indeedproceed]

lol @ people thinkin Cole Aldrich will make an impact he's trade filler nd a bust he looked terrible nd clueless in summerleadue nd he;s like 3-4 years in it just aint happening. nd for those talmbout Martin cant take Harden's playmaker role they have Eric Maynor there Martin can flex his scoring machine position off da bench

1) Isn't Cole Aldrich only 2 years in? You never heard of a big man taking 3 years to develop?

2) I'm not sure you grasp how important Harden was. He was their best playmaker. They replaced him with 2 traditional 2's, scorers.

Martin can be moved. Time for Russell to take his game to another level as a PG. OKC got a ton of assets for a guy who was being paid big money as a third and potential fourth wheel. Serge has a ton of potential too.

I like Lamb but I really have to see what Presti does with this Raptors pick. Should be good and they likely get it this coming season. Presti with a chip like that is dangerous. His track record speaks for itself.

Agree on all the points, at least in that they're possible.

Also, isn't it weird that we still argue cb draft positions, even now?

I can talk chandler parsons all day, SON!

[Kane3387]

lol @ people thinkin Cole Aldrich will make an impact he's trade filler nd a bust he looked terrible nd clueless in summerleadue nd he;s like 3-4 years in it just aint happening. nd for those talmbout Martin cant take Harden's playmaker role they have Eric Maynor there Martin can flex his scoring machine position off da bench

1) Isn't Cole Aldrich only 2 years in? You never heard of a big man taking 3 years to develop?

2) I'm not sure you grasp how important Harden was. He was their best playmaker. They replaced him with 2 traditional 2's, scorers.

Martin can be moved. Time for Russell to take his game to another level as a PG. OKC got a ton of assets for a guy who was being paid big money as a third and potential fourth wheel. Serge has a ton of potential too.

I like Lamb but I really have to see what Presti does with this Raptors pick. Should be good and they likely get it this coming season. Presti with a chip like that is dangerous. His track record speaks for itself.

Agree on all the points, at least in that they're possible.

Also, isn't it weird that we still argue cb draft positions, even now?

I can talk chandler parsons all day, SON!

Haha it never ends. Third time will be a charm for me.

And then I will say this!

[KG Living Legend]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

Didn't they also get 2 first rounders (one could be lottery too, I think) with the one 2nd rounder?

[Kane3387]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

Didn't they also get 2 first rounders (one could be lottery too, I think) with the one 2nd rounder?

The two firsts belonged to Dallas and Toronto. The Dallas is one is top 20 protected originally sent to the Lakers for Odom and then sent to Houston for taking Fisher. I doubt they see the Dallas pick for a little while since Dallas likely won't be a top 12 team any time soon.

The toronto one was sent to Houston for Kyle Lowry. It stipulates that it can only be handed over if it is a lottery pick not in the top 3. Thus if the Raptors finish the season with a record that lands pick 4-14 then OKC gets it.

The Bobcats pick was one they originally had. They HAD to give it to us for Jeff Green's heart issue. We sent it to Houston in the Courtney Lee trade and now OKC got it back.

[jdz101]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

This is a lot better than he did in the Perkins trade.

[staticcc]

Only problem with OKC letting go of Harden is that he can carve up the Lakers' D easily. He can also guard Kobe without help in crunch time.

The Lakers are smiling right now. SMH

[pearljammer10]

Kevin Martin is extremely overratted and could get beat to the whole by a chair. Lakers easily move into first in the west, with the spurs as number two. Thunder take a big step back with this deal.

[chambers]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

Who says Harden is just a good sixth man? He in the top 5 shooting guards in the league. They don't grow on trees.

Kevin Martin is a chucker and they'll unload him much sooner than later.
Harden is a much stronger player than Martin.
Lamb might be good. They got picks who might be good.
But they gave up a guy who may become an All Star shooting guard if given a starting role.

The Rockets get the third best shooting guard in the league and get rid of K Marts horrid expiring contract and they have to throw in Jeremy Lamb.
Only problem is now they have to re-sign Harden, hoping that he stays because I haven't read anywhere that this was a sign and trade.

Houston wins this one slightly.
It was hard for OKC to ever win huge in this scenario because they don't want to bring back the salary that a player of Hardens caliber will demand- so they start over with Lamb and hopefully some more picks.

Houston gets the edge slightly in my book but it's win-win for both. I'm just amazed there weren't more deals thrown out there. The Rockets really are willing to gamble and Morey has balls. I like it.
They will also hope to turn Aldridge into a proper NBA player now which may pay dividends.

[Kane3387]

Only problem with OKC letting go of Harden is that he can carve up the Lakers' D easily. He can also guard Kobe without help in crunch time.

The Lakers are smiling right now. SMH

Harden is not that good of a defender. Thabo guarded him for most of the game and Durant really guarded him the most at the end of games.

[CelticSooner]

Not quite sure why everyone thinks OKC took a step back. That team is still LOADED with talent. Kevin Martin is no scrub, he can score and should thrive with defenses focusing in on Durant and Westbrook. He's not the facilitator that Harden is, but they're getting Eric Maynor back this year will alleviate that with the 2nd unit.

Martin should put up good numbers coming off the bench for the Thunder. It will be interesting to see how Harden looks without the defense focusing mainly on Durant and Westbrook. He'll be the man now and the way Lin has looked preseason will be the only man.

[arambone]

both teams came out well, although okc seems vulnerable at center. Ive been watching most every rockets preseason game, and lamb was struggling mightily after a great summer league. Talk of disappointment. Lack of aggression and bbiq, or something like that. Talk of being a one trick pony. Martin is healthy this year and looking good, but not considered part of hous longterm plans. Big man seems equal to late lottery level talent in an average draft. Cook a replacement for lambs rookie contributions. No longer looking to get younger. 3 new teammates with finals experience and an infusion of success to the locker room culture. Still a below average defensive backcourt, but pattterson and terrence jones are tough defenders. Jones shows signs of future domination, or at least on the josh smith level for sure. Might start at either 3 or 4 this season at some point. Like sully, overanalyzed after returning. Good passer. I think the new euro montajiberis is a good passer too. And royce white, point forward. 5 good passers on the floor at once sometimes, all but harden locked up long term. And machado led ncaa in assists last year as 3rd string pg.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Kevin Martin is extremely overratted and could get beat to the whole by a chair. Lakers easily move into first in the west, with the spurs as number two. Thunder take a big step back with this deal.

While I agree that KevMart is overrated, there's more to his contribution to this trade.

First, he's an expiring deal, so they can move him again for teams who want salary relief.
He came with Jeremy Lamb, which potentially at best is a starter. There's also the picks. And, they don't have to sign someone a max contract deal, giving them salary cap relief.

Yes they lost Harden's playmaking ability, but they did not lose much in scoring with Martin. Then add the assets they got for Harden and practically bench Warner's, Presti got a haul of a trade here.

[mctyson]

 Are you kidding me? After seeing the details. Two first round picks, Kevin Martin, who has had three seasons of over 23 points per game. While hardens best is 16.8 PPG.
 Jeremy Lamb who I think is going to  be a starter in this league, and a 2nd rounder for A good 6th man. This is a wim all the way around for Presti. He's good.

All of what Presti got is unproven, except for Martin, who is not anywhere close to James Harden in terms of ability.

OKC is worse off.

[SHAQATTACK]

This helps the Lakers for at least this year and maybe next.

HArden had to go make his fortune on a bad team while he could .

Houston is just trading pieces , I don't see any logic with exactly what they are trying to do.

I don't think they have a clue what they are doing,   talent alone doesn't make the team , the pieces need to fit I certain program.