First off, I would like to say that I loved James Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The beard, the fashion and the skill he brought to OKC was beautiful. To this day, I want a beard like his!
On Saturday night, as we all know, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year was traded to the Houston Rockets for sharpshooter Kevin Martin and promising young talent Jeremy Lamb. Many NBA fans were shocked to see that Harden was shipped off. However, the Thunder once again proved they are an elite NBA franchise that are willing to do anything to win.
With Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka all signing to wealthy extensions, the Thunder would have a difficult time finding the money they needed to sign Harden to an extension. They knew he would ask for too much and they were right.
The main reason the trade went down was simply because the Thunder couldn’t work out an extension for Harden. So, they made the trade. Houston was willing to offer Harden a max deal of $60 million for four years compared to Thunder’s offer of $55.5 million for the same amount of years.
What really gets me is how much $4.5 million really mattered to Harden. Sure, you get to be the guy now in Houston, but you're moving to a less progressed team and you are just getting a few more minutes instead of staying on an elite team and competing for championships for years upon years.
The Thunder will quietly improve because they gained maybe a more deadly shooter than Harden in Kevin Martin. Martin averaged 18.4 points a game in his eighth season in the league. His averages of points per game exceeded Harden's. Also, by gaining a talented scorer and defender in Lamb, the Thunder's depth at the guard position will be largely improved.
As much as we all hated seeing Harden go, the Thunder once again made the right move.
