Your beloved James Harden has been traded to the Houston Rockets according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In return Oklahoma City is getting Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and future draft considerations. The draft considerations are considered to be VERY big, aka no protected picks.Also, Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward and Daequan Cook are also going to Houston as well.
Talks between General Manager Sam Presti and James Harden broke down. The deadline for to sign Harden was Wednesday at 11:59pm CST. However, talks broke down and Presti wasted no time making a trade.
James Harden was the sixth man of the year, and was demanding a maximum contract. However, Oklahoma City being a small market couldn’t pay him the money. Hence the trade.
Darnell Mayberry says more about the trade:
Oklahoma City will receive a protected first-round pick from Toronto in 2013, a pick the Raptors sent Houston in the Kyle Lowry trade, as well as a protected 2013 first-round pick from Dallas, which the Rockets received from the Lakers in last year’s Derek Fisher trade.
The second-round pick is 2013 selection belonging to Charlotte. Houston acquired it from Boston in the Courtney Lee trade. It’s the same pick the NBA recently forced the Thunder to convey to the Celtics as compensation for Jeff Green missing the entire 2011-12 season with a heart condition.
Martin, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard, is a career 18.4-point scorer who is known for his perimeter shooting and efficiency. The 29-year-old Martin is entering his ninth season and will make $12.9 million in the final year of his contract.
Lamb, this year’s 13th overall pick, averaged 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals last season as a sophomore at Connecticut. Lamb, 20, is among the most athletic rookies in this year’s class.
Harden will make his lone appearance inside Chesapeake Energy Arena as a member of the Rockets on Nov. 28.
We’ll have more on this as the more information comes out
Official press release from the Thunder:
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks and a second round pick from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard James Harden, center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
“We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers,” Presti said. “We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin’s caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team. We appreciate James, Cole, Daequan and Lazar’s contributions to the Thunder organization and this community and wish them the best in the future.”
Martin (6-7, 185) will enter his ninth NBA regular season with career averages of 18.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists, including a .377 (744-of-1974) mark from three-point range and .865 (2,716-of-3,140) from the line. The Western Carolina product has averaged 20 or more points in five of the last eight seasons and has finished in the top 10 in the NBA in free-throw percentage in each of the last three seasons.
The 20-year old Lamb (6-5, 180) enters his rookie campaign after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. During his sophomore season, Lamb averaged 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds on his way to being named to the All-BIG EAST First team after finishing the previous season as the second leading scorer on UCONN’s 2011 NCAA Men’s Championship team.
