James Harden traded to Rockets

[ZigZag]

smh at OKC, they could've had a ring

smh at houston, they're paying out the ass for a 7th seed

 

[buzzy]

Holy shite.
In my opinion they should've just made a run at the title with him, even if they would've lost him after the season. I mean a title is a title. Whats the point in looking ahead if you can't assemble a team like this again, which I doubt they can with the pieces they got back.

But I guess not many people think that way, and understandably so, if it was anybody other than OKC i would have tried to get rid of him as well, but they were so close last year.

 

[Pugz]

okc didn't take five steps back, they took half a step back; if that. they also look WAY better for future RUNS. they would not have even had james for the future.

 

[buzzy]

Meh. Kmart is gone after the year and you have no idea how Lamb pans out. The guy has incredible pressure on him now.
You were 3 games away from a chip.

One serious run at the title > future mediocre runs.

 

[Pugz]

they wont be mediocre and they wouldn't have won a title either, they got talent in return for someone who was gone.

james turned down $52M and then $54M, he clearly wanted a max and knew they couldn't give him that, he wanted to be gone.

 

[BwareDWare94]

Houston got their "star" now. Let's see how it pans out.

I like the deal for OKC if they were so certain they couldn't keep the guy. Martin will match or surpass Harden's scoring and Lamb will develop in the presence of great young talent. People may be shaking their heads at this right now, but watch OKC be a better team because of it. They were too dependent on one guy off the bench to score. Now they have Martin, Lamb, and Jones. If all three can score some points, that gives OKC a better second unit.

 

[elcheato]

Kevin Martin could match Harden's scoring, but he'll also shoot 30-50% worse from the field, because Harden isn't a chucker.

 

[Elite]

Bill Simmons ‏@sportsguy33
OKC has everyone thinking they're a mom & pop store, meanwhile they made 30-35 million profit last year + could sell team for $550m easy.

Small market, wahhh!!

 

[elcheato]

The issue with the NBA isn't the small market/big market spending like it is in the MLB. The problem is star players only wanting to play for 3 different teams, which has nothing to do with money.

But this wasn't the problem here either. Bill Simmons doesn't know what he's talking about either way.

 

[Pugz]

this team starts losing and they have no fans. that profit talk doesnt matter.

 

[Sabbath]

Kevin Martin is going to be effective off the bench. With an improved Ibaka or westbrook this team could easily make another title run.

 

[Elite]

The issue with the NBA isn't the small market/big market spending like it is in the MLB. The problem is star players only wanting to play for 3 different teams, which has nothing to do with money.

But this wasn't the problem here either. Bill Simmons doesn't know what he's talking about either way.

I don't see what that has to do with anything he said in that tweet.

this team starts losing and they have no fans. that profit talk doesnt matter.

How the hell do you know that? They've been there for 4 years, 3 of them winning seasons, and fans showed up all 4 years, including the first year when they sucked.

How does profit talk not matter when they just pocketed $30M in one season and they're bitching about having to pay the luxury tax for a few years?

Not to mention as long as they have KD, they won't be losing.

 

[.GR]

houston wins. hands down imo

 

[ZigZag]

Damn, I actually agree with BC. K-Mart can score like Harden, but he can't pass or even defend as well. If any of their rookies develop into what they lost in Harden, they'll still have to pay eventually.

 

[Dorado]

OKC won this deal. A couple first rounders and Lamb and KMart? Lamb is going to develop nicely under the Thunder and all KMart needs is a good team to feed off. Good movie for OKC. Harden isnt going to be the player the hope he is

 

[elcheato]

It took Presti all of about 2 hours to get a better deal for Harden than the Magic got for Dwight.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Its a drop off for OKC in the short term. Harden was fantastic in the regular season and playoffs until he ran into Lebron James. Harden is a better defender than Martin and plays off the ball really well compared to what Martin can do. They really screwed themselves with the Perkins contract and I think theyd rather Harden over Ibaka who's a good weakside shot blocker, but not a post presence offensively or defensively.

 

[footballplaya52]

is 6-8 million dollars really worth leaving a team who will be in the playoffs for sometime?

 

[.infamous]

Im gonna miss harden, but I like this deal. 2 First round picks, then Lamb who could be come a pretty nice player and martin who will fill hardens scoring presence more than likely. Wish him good luck in Houston.

 

[Mexi]

It took Presti all of about 2 hours to get a better deal for Harden than the Magic got for Dwight.

im getting sick of seeing this everywhere

different situations

Orlando didnt want to stay competitive. they want to suck so they could get 3 straight years of top 7 picks or better
the other picks they got are just gravy