NBA 2012-13 Thread

[Maxx]

One of those picks is Toronto's, so they've got another top 10 right there.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah OKC actually made out real well in this. Martin is not on a Harden level, but he's good. The draft picks are immense though, and help them find lottery-level players to come in sooner rather than later.

[Benjamin]

They're still gonna' suffer without him, though. I expect a Lakers versus Spurs West finals now.

[Mofoticon]

They took a short term loss to try for a bigger long term gain, and you can argue whether or not this was smart, but Durant and Westbrook are ready to win right now and sacrificing the chance to win a title this year just wastes a season of both of their primes. Harden's a way better all-around player than the on the decline Kevin Martin and I don't see how they can compete with the Heat or Lakers now.

[wrathofcarnage]

Harden trade is a pretty even deal for both teams.

What would put it over the top is if OKC eventually flipped Martin for a low post scorer like Al Jefferson. Lamb is supposed to be pretty good and he could hypothetically step into the Harden role.

If not, maybe Martin can recapture his late-Sacto/early-Houston form off the bench.

Lin and Harden is an interesting backcourt. I still think Houston has another deal in the pipeline: someone like Smith/Horford from ATL or Jefferson/Millsap from Utah.

Stoked for the season, even if my Bulls won't be very watchable for the first half of it...

[JasonM]

Quite honestly I think Houston got the short end of the stick with the Harden trade.

Harden is a great shooter and scorer, and he will prove to be electric for the Rockets together with Jeremy Lin. But you gotta believe that a lot of big teams are already looking at him to go onto free agency next season. And you gotta believe that Harden wants to return to a contending team rather than rebuild with the Rockets.

A team like the Mavericks have been working their wage bill to get a guy like Harden, who could arguably kickstart the aging franchise. Same goes with other older teams like the Spurs and maybe even the Lakers if Kobe decided the call it quits early (which he wont).

On the other hand of the deal the Thunder get a 19ppg scorer and a good shooting guard talent. And also two mid-range to lottery first round draft picks, and seeing Thunder's track record with drafting people. Those picks could end up becoming the most valuable things in their hands.

K-Mart might be a bit iffy with his injury track record. But you can't deny his accuracte shooting that was on-par with Harden's shooting. And with Mart's own contract running out, the ball is in his court to play even better to get that extension.

Jeremy Lamb is a bit unproven and very young, but the Thunder are the perfect team for young players because if you look at guys like Thabo Sefolosha and Ibaka, they can create good/great players out of servicable ones.

So I feel that Thunder hardly lost any firepower on offense and they got a lot of long term strength in return.

And they also haven't created a precedent in giving Harden big bucks whilst Brook and Durant took less money to stay.

[Quom]

Wait it wasn't a sign and trade? You are kidding right? No way Houston should be giving up their entire rebuilding process for someone who can walk off into the sunset at the end of the season. If so this will be the worse offseason ever by a basketball eam and Houston are fucked for the next three to six years at best.

[livid]

They're expected to offer him the max 5 year, $80 million deal that teams can offer to one player and that's something that OKC couldn't even get close to (4 years, $60 million is the max and they were offering 4 years, $52 million). They still have a ton of assets regardless because even if Harden signs, they'll still have a ton of cap room, their own draft picks (the ones traded belonged to Toronto and Dallas) and the glutton of young players they've gotten in the past couple of years.

I think both teams made out well. Houston gets a potential centerpiece (and if not, a good #2) while still retaining a lot of cap room to add more players and OKC gets luxury tax relief, a good scorer (a bad defender but that's what Sefolosha is for), a young shooter and some decent-to-good draft picks.

[phatman]

I'm one of the few who actually thinks OKC got the better of this deal...

Harden was pretty horrible in last years NBA finals from what I can remember watching... He'll never be "the" guy on a team that's going to win... I just don't see it working out for him... Houston are going to be overpaying big time IMO... Unless they can swing another deal as somebody else has mentioned, I just see Houston been irrelevant for some time now... Cook, Aldrich and Hayward aren't all that important in the deal to me either...

OKC get back a decent shooter/scorer in Martin and a young player with a ton of potential... I'd be taking those two over Harden as well... Then the other two potential draft picks, both could be lottery picks, as nobody knows really how Dallas will be this year, and Toronto isn't anything special...

Every way I see this deal, OKC wins it easily and I still think they'll be one of the top two teams in the west...

[Maxx]

Even after they sign Harden to a max deal, they'll still have room for another max deal. Lin/Harden in the back court, a nice group of young role players and no state income tax? They should be able to get another big name in there in the offseason.

[gunnar hendershow]

Houston has a lot they can add, and the no state income tax is a big draw.

But I think OKC really did well getting the draft picks. Depending on how this season goes the two of them and Lamb are big trade chips to have or players to build a really strong future. Westbrook/Durant/Ibaka are a better big 3 than Westbrook/Durant/Harden. Finally, Kevin Martin isn't a huge step down from Harden. Yeah he's older, and declined from his peaks of a few years ago, but they don't lose as much offensively as people think.

This could wind up being one of the ultimate "both teams won" deals in NBA history.

[Trey]

Both the picks are lottery protected so neither will end up being any better then a top 14 pick in next year's draft, though I'm not sure how long the protection lasts and all that.

[phatman]

Houston are going to have Lin, Harden and Omer Asik making more than $45.5 million combined between them come 2013-14 I think it is, might be 14/15... If Harden signs like he says he is going to... Until I'm proved otherwise I think that is a massive waste of money...

I find it doubtful they'll get anyone major going there...

[Maxx]

Money talks and they've got it. Someone will happily take a max deal from them.

[Mofoticon]

Houston are going to have Lin, Harden and Omer Asik making more than $45.5 million combined between them come 2013-14 I think it is, might be 14/15... If Harden signs like he says he is going to... Until I'm proved otherwise I think that is a massive waste of money...

Where do you get your numbers from? Lin and Asik will be at 8.3 mil each and Harden around 15 mil, which adds up to around 32 million. Plenty of wiggle room on the rest of the roster

[DMN in the House]

Both the picks are lottery protected so neither will end up being any better then a top 14 pick in next year's draft, though I'm not sure how long the protection lasts and all that.

The pick from Toronto its only top three protected.

Think this makes LA the clear number one in the west.

[Maxx]

They were going to anyways.

[DMN in the House]

I'm working hard to stay humble, Maxx.

[phatman]

Lin and Asik are both due more than $14.5 mill in their third year of the deal apparently... Which is why both New York and Chicago were never going to match the deals they signed... and with Harden set to be on and around the same as well... The luxury tax penalties that they were going on about a couple of months back will be absurd too, I really just can't see them spending that much on another player...

I'm more than likely gonna be wrong about them getting another max deal but jeez even New York balked at the idea of having Melo, Amare, Chandler and Lin all at 14.5 Mill... I can't see Houston spending big and actually luring someone of decent talent there...

[Quom]

It will be fun watching the Lakers implode and lose in the finals to a team that now looks weaker on paper. ^_^