He's s proven NBA scorer, with extensive playoff experience, and TeamUSA medals.

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Kevin Martin's zero defense and an unproven Jeremy Lamb and an unknown future pick for a proven game changer and a solid role player in Cole Aldrich. Yeah, I think it's reason to be excited

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EOT

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Really? Basically 3 1st rounders (incl this year's Jeremy Lamb ) for James Harden?

Is he that kind of difference make rthat is going to lead the Rockets to greatness?

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I dont think anyone expects this to lead the rockets to greatness, but its definitely a big step in the right direction. First round picks in the NBA, especially outside the top 10 or so, are so unpredictable that if you have the chance to get a player thats young and already proven to be an all-star, for 2 first rounders (neither likely to be in the top 8), you do it. I mean Aldrich is a throw-in in the deal and he was taken 11th overall just a couple years ago. A good majority of players drafted dont pan out to be anything more than role players.

Morey finally did it!?! He won a trade!? Holy sheet buckets!

knew they were getting rid of harden but didnt see rockets and i didnt see it coming this close to opening day. new west rankings:
1) lakers
2) okc
3) spurs
4) clippers
5) nuggets
6) grizz
7-8) battle between jazz, rockets, mavs, and wolves

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Houston is believed to now be ready to ink Harden to the maximum-allowable contract that Harden has long been believed to covet.

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STUPID

It is a good trade for Houston based on what they give up and the return, but I don't think Harden is a max-level player. He is a great 6th man, but I don't think he is the guy that is going to carry a team and he isn't the guy that is going to attract guys that will carry a team.

How many teams would he be a 6th man on? Dude is an Olympian and you're acting like he's a role player.

Certain players are better at certain roles. Ginobili has been a top 5 SG for most of his career in terms of PER and effectiveness. But he is at his best coming off the bench to keep the team going and not drop into a sub-induced lull. Harden is pretty similar.

Both are exceptional at that, but I dont think either player could carry a team.

Don't really like it for either team. Okc had 3 young max players and that's all they could get? Houston finally gets their max player, but this is more of a Joe Johnson to the Hawks scenario - we don't know how Harden will perform as the #1 Franchise player.

Good trade for Houston. Harden can straight ball - good range, can create for himself and others, can defend well when focused.

p.s. Jeremy Lin still sucks like $20 Taiwanese *****.

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How many teams would he be a 6th man on? Dude is an Olympian and you're acting like he's a role player.

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Exactly. James Harden is a star. Soon people will realize. I love the move

The reason OKC could not extend Harden to the deal he wanted because they would have approached 60M in salary from 4 players. The salary cap for 2012 is 58M with the Luxury Tax at 70.3M.
With the new CBA, there are much stricter rules on penalties for going over the salary cap. A "smaller" market team like OKC does not have the means of a Mark Cuban to continually pay the luxury tax.
Once they signed Ibaka it was done. There was no way OKC could afford to have their main 4. Hypothetically 60M between Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, Harden, and then add in Collison and Perkins and you have 70M.
Not to forget you still have 9 other players on your roster adding to it. All in all OKC is a team that is already feeling the impacts of the new CBA.

I'm not sure why people are so down on the move. Here's Hollinger from espn.

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How does it look now for Houston?
Did I mention there was another team in this trade? The Rockets are looking good. Reeeeal good. They gave up some choice assets they'd accumulated to make a deal just like this one, and in return they finally have a go-to star on the wings. Harden will have a max extension faster than you can say "beard," and Rockets GM Daryl Morey can finally move forward with the post-Yao strategy he's been working so hard to initiate.

And here's the really scary part: Did you know that Houston still has max cap room next year, even after giving a max deal to Harden? You don't think the Rockets might be an attractive destination with a Harden-Lin backcourt and all those kids (Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Royce White, Patrick Patterson, Chandler Parsons)? Yowza.

Obviously a lot of this depends on some unknowns -- how good Harden can be as The Man in Houston, how well Jeremy Lin will play, and how good those other young Rockets really are. I'll have more by Monday on what this means for Houston's prospects this season. But in the long term, you have to love the concept of a slashing, creating Lin-Harden backcourt, Omer and the Random Young Power Forwards playing behind them, and max cap space lingering for a run at an elite forward.

One thing Houston will have to do in the short term is cut a few people, as its roster still has roughly 85 players and has to be down to 15 by Wednesday. It's possible at least one of Aldrich, Hayward and Cook will be part of the cull, but no matter. Harden was the prize the Rockets had been hunting all summer, and they finally got it.

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This is a good deal for the Rockets. Harden is a huge upgrade from anything they've had plus he is only 23. The players and picks they gave up were easily worth it.

Hardin is not a #1 guy and not a max player.

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Hardin is not a #1 guy and not a max player.

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He's 23 years old and on the cusp of superstardom. Please

Younger than lin

I really think Lin and Harden fit really, really well together. This team may miss the playoffs this year, maybe sneak in on the backside. However, Lin and Harden can continue to grow together. Plus I like that we finally have a really legit interior defender and rebounder in Asik.

Darryl Morey speaking to free agents:

Option 1: hey man we could really use your skills on this team and guess what you get to start alongside Kevin Martin!

Option 2: hey bro we could really use your talents and you will get to suit up alongside James "Fear the Beard" Harden

I love option 2. Even when Morey does something right people criticize him. If you would have told me Morey was going to trade our draft picks (all 3) this year for Harden I woulda said go for it. There's no telling how these guys will pan out. But in the end all he gave up was K-Mart who couldn't defend a frickin pop tart and Jeremy Lamb who is unproven in this league. Oh and draft picks which as we have seen prove to get crappier every year. It's been a while since there's been a very solid draft class. Overall I think Morey did a great job letting the Okc situation settle itself out and then pull the trigger. Apparently he beat out SEVERAL TEAMS that wanted Harden. Well done.

/end rant

P.s. Maybe I'll finally get csn Houston if AT&T realizes the rockets are worth watching now

harden is only 23 yrs old.

So the Rockets need a max SF or PF to go with their max SG, Lin and Asik.

FAs next year:
David West
Josh Smith
Paul Milsap
Elton Brand
Lamar Odom
Antawn Jamison
Paul Pierce
Stephen Jackson
Corey Brewer
Chase Buddinger

Take your choice!

Not the best options.

Chris Paul is also available at PG, but I can't see him choosing Houston over LA. If you wanted to double up on Center, there is Bynum and AlJefferson.

David west would have been an awesome one to go after 3-4 years ago. Jefferson wouldnt be bad.

Watching a lot of David West when he was a Hornet, I would never call him a max player or want to depend on him as a 1st/2nd option.

Harden has rated as the most efficient offensive played in the league the last couple years. He is a moneyball wet dream.

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Harden has rated as the most efficient offensive played in the league the last couple years. He is a moneyball wet dream.

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By what metric?

Harden is one of the best 2s in the league and is only 23. He is absolutely worth a max deal, especially since he should be much more effective offensively without Westbrook and Durant dominating the ball.

On the flip side, I hate this deal for OKC. Why break up the chemistry this close to the season? Why not wait until after? Also they're replacing Harden, who can play the 1 and 2 and, most importantly, defense, with a guy who is allergic to defense and doesn't create for others. They now have 3 guys who like to dominate the ball and no selfless player to distribute. Lamb has potential, but "potential" means you haven't done anything yet. It could be a good move long term for OKC, but short term it seems dumb to me.

OKC didn't get much in terms of players, but they got 3 good draft picks and a couple trade picks in exchange for someone they weren't going to be able to resign anyway. OKC i

OKC didn't get much in terms of players, but they got 3 good draft picks and a couple trade picks in exchange for someone they weren't going to be able to resign anyway. OKC i

It is really hard to legitimately argue that this is anything but a great deal for the Rockets. They are finally getting a player who was easily a top 30 player in the league in his role as was and likely better in an expanded role. And all you give up is Martin, Lamb and a couple of picks? Great deal.

Re: is he worth the max or not, if Eric Gordon was worth the max on the open market, then Harden certainly is. I might agree with the otherside of that if he weren't 23, proven on a winning team, or if this capped the Rockets out for the long term... but it doesn't. The difference between the max offer and what OKC was offerring was something like $1MM/yr. Had Sam Presti re-signed Harden at near that level, I have no doubts that none of you would criticize him for doing it.

Great move by Morey and a big step in the right direction.

Good trade for OKC too. They were able to not mess with the rest of their core and basically just picked up a bunch of moveable assets to increase their roster flexibility. Martin doesn't dominate the ball either so I think he'll be a very effective role player for them albeit an expensive one this season.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 10/28/2012 12:51p).]

OKC didn't get much in terms of players, but they got 3 good draft picks and a couple trade picks in exchange for someone they weren't going to be able to resign anyway. OKC is pretty good at drafting and they have the long term core of their team, so what they really need are a cheap players to play roles. Those dr

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OKC didn't get much in terms of players, but they got 3 good draft picks and a couple trade picks in exchange for someone they weren't going to be able to resign anyway. OKC i

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OKC can now look to deal KMart's expiring contract and the Toronto pick for a player willing to take the $50 mil they offered Harden.

Josh Smith is going to get a max deal, but a guy like Randolph is a possibility.

I could actually see Josh Smith signing with Houston (who still has cap room for a max deal) and forming a very good young nucleus to build around. I think Houston go after Al Jefferson as well. Chris Paul is a pipe dream.

OKC didn't get much in terms of players, but they got 3 good draft picks and a couple trade pieces or role players (Kevin Martin will not play anywhere near the role for OKC that he did for Houston) in exchange for someone they weren't going to be able to resign anyway. OKC already has the long term core of their team, so what they really need are a cheap players to play roles. Now combine that with the fact that they are very good at drafting and you see how valuable draft picks are to OKC.

My initial thought was that the Rockets gave a little too much, but they aren't going to make the leap through the draft. Now if they can just trade 8 power forwards for a young post who is better than Omer Asik (that guy is getting more hype for 3 pts, 4 reb, and .7 bpg than anyone I've ever seen) they'll be in business.

sidebar: I have not mastered posting from a tablet.