foosballnick wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:How did Houston overpay?

Martin is old and is expiring.
Jeremy Lamb doesn't look as good as Harden.
Draft picks aren't guaranteed.

Harden is a top 10 SG. Houston isn't a free agency destination unless they overpay.

Sucks to be Lin. Harden is going to be handling that rock. Lol.

As long as Lin's knee is OK, I think this is great news for him. He has good PG skills but he's not an outstanding ball-handler and teams can trap him. It will help a lot to have another ball-handler/play-maker on the floor with him.

yeah this is a big win for the rockets. both these guys are better playmakers than westbrook and now they'll be playing alongside each other. who knows how much chemistry they will have together? it worked out for frazier and monroe pretty good.

So now we've got Harden and Lin pegged as two hall of famers. LOL. Both these guys are combo guards. Very hard to work together at the same time when they both covet the ball in their hands.

They are not midgets though, Dallas won with combo guards, playing a big role and were very efficient, it comes down to FIT/TEAM CHEMISTRY/COACHING.

JJ Barea
Terry
Kidd

played majority of the minutes at PG/SG

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Harden was a safety net for when Westbrook got out of control, and allowed Westbrook to just play basketball without having to do to much of the PG duties. Harden allowed Westbrook and Durant to focus on scoring. Westbrook is now going to have to handle PG duties more and Durant is going to have to look to creat for others a little more.

Houston with its cap space and prospects at this point should look for another player that may be on his way out like a Josh Smith an see if ATL bites.

Exactly. Morey seems to be learning from Pritchard's mistakes.

Pritchard didn't want to trade anyone he drafted. Even scrubs like Rudy Fernandez.

They still way overpaid though.

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:Kevin Martin is a great scorer and has that Kobe/Pierce/Billups skill of using fakes to draw fouls. As others have mentioned we've seen his best and he's awful on D.

Sam Presti did the best he could given that ownership didn't want to pay Harden. Who knows what Harden's peak will look like?

& whatever happened to supply and demand determining who is a max player and who isn't?

There would have been plenty of teams willing to give Harden the max had he gone into restricted free agency after this season.

OKC is worried about the cap. I doubt they resign Martin either.

BigDaddyG wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Harden was a safety net for when Westbrook got out of control, and allowed Westbrook to just play basketball without having to do to much of the PG duties. Harden allowed Westbrook and Durant to focus on scoring. Westbrook is now going to have to handle PG duties more and Durant is going to have to look to creat for others a little more.

Houston with its cap space and prospects at this point should look for another player that may be on his way out like a Josh Smith an see if ATL bites.

Exactly. Morey seems to be learning from Pritchard's mistakes.

Pritchard didn't want to trade anyone he drafted. Even scrubs like Rudy Fernandez.

They still way overpaid though.

How did they overpay. They gave up garbage.

Where has Martin taken Houston then last 3 yrs?

What has Jeremy Lamb proven?

Houston robbed OKC for a proven player. Harden can handle, score, and facilitate the offense.

Don't forget the likely lottery pick, via Toronto, and the cap space from Martin's expiring. Even if they decide to resign Martin it'll be for much less than he's making now. Harden is good, but I don't see him carrying a team. OKC made out like bandits in this deal.

OKC made out like bandits??...They are not better today than they were two days ago...They lost in the Finals, this does not make them more competitive...But they do have pieces..I think its a tough call...

holfresh wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Harden was a safety net for when Westbrook got out of control, and allowed Westbrook to just play basketball without having to do to much of the PG duties. Harden allowed Westbrook and Durant to focus on scoring. Westbrook is now going to have to handle PG duties more and Durant is going to have to look to creat for others a little more.

Houston with its cap space and prospects at this point should look for another player that may be on his way out like a Josh Smith an see if ATL bites.

Exactly. Morey seems to be learning from Pritchard's mistakes.

Pritchard didn't want to trade anyone he drafted. Even scrubs like Rudy Fernandez.

They still way overpaid though.

How did they overpay. They gave up garbage.

Where has Martin taken Houston then last 3 yrs?

What has Jeremy Lamb proven?

Houston robbed OKC for a proven player. Harden can handle, score, and facilitate the offense.

Don't forget the likely lottery pick, via Toronto, and the cap space from Martin's expiring. Even if they decide to resign Martin it'll be for much less than he's making now. Harden is good, but I don't see him carrying a team. OKC made out like bandits in this deal.

OKC made out like bandits??...They are not better today than they were two days ago...They lost in the Finals, this does not make them more competitive...But they do have pieces..I think its a tough call...

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:OKC is one shrewd franchise. Hard len is no max contract player, but that core did get to the NBA Finals. Getting value for him from Houston is a win win. I don't know what the phuck Houston is thinking. If they truly intend to make Harden their centerpiece, they'll be sucking for the long term.

What's your definition of a max player? In my mind Harden's value isn't really that far behind Melo's.

If anything the distance between Melo and Harden is way smaller than say the difference between Melo and Lebron.

Wow..Really???..U think Harden can carry a team for a month or be the go to guy in crunch time???

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Harden was a safety net for when Westbrook got out of control, and allowed Westbrook to just play basketball without having to do to much of the PG duties. Harden allowed Westbrook and Durant to focus on scoring. Westbrook is now going to have to handle PG duties more and Durant is going to have to look to creat for others a little more.

Houston with its cap space and prospects at this point should look for another player that may be on his way out like a Josh Smith an see if ATL bites.

Exactly. Morey seems to be learning from Pritchard's mistakes.

Pritchard didn't want to trade anyone he drafted. Even scrubs like Rudy Fernandez.

They still way overpaid though.

How did they overpay. They gave up garbage.

Where has Martin taken Houston then last 3 yrs?

What has Jeremy Lamb proven?

Houston robbed OKC for a proven player. Harden can handle, score, and facilitate the offense.

The package of Martin and what equates to 3 first rd picks(Lamb). Harden has not proven he equates to that much value at this point. Harden is not 2-3 first rd draft picks better then Martin. Plus they are going to give him a max contract. Harden hasn't proven he can be the man on a pro team yet, and he played horrible in the finals so there are question marks on if he can handle major pressure and expectations.

I still like the deal for them from a basketball stand point in what Harden brings to the team in terms of skill level. But they did overpay.

BigDaddyG wrote:

holfresh wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Harden was a safety net for when Westbrook got out of control, and allowed Westbrook to just play basketball without having to do to much of the PG duties. Harden allowed Westbrook and Durant to focus on scoring. Westbrook is now going to have to handle PG duties more and Durant is going to have to look to creat for others a little more.

Houston with its cap space and prospects at this point should look for another player that may be on his way out like a Josh Smith an see if ATL bites.

Exactly. Morey seems to be learning from Pritchard's mistakes.

Pritchard didn't want to trade anyone he drafted. Even scrubs like Rudy Fernandez.

They still way overpaid though.

How did they overpay. They gave up garbage.

Where has Martin taken Houston then last 3 yrs?

What has Jeremy Lamb proven?

Houston robbed OKC for a proven player. Harden can handle, score, and facilitate the offense.

Don't forget the likely lottery pick, via Toronto, and the cap space from Martin's expiring. Even if they decide to resign Martin it'll be for much less than he's making now. Harden is good, but I don't see him carrying a team. OKC made out like bandits in this deal.

OKC made out like bandits??...They are not better today than they were two days ago...They lost in the Finals, this does not make them more competitive...But they do have pieces..I think its a tough call...

Let's be honest here. OKC wasn't beating the Lakers or the Heat with out some extenuating circumstance anyway. Neither is Houston. The difference is that OKC has the second best player in the league, a top five point guard, and a young promising big man already locked up. This trade gives them more cap space, a promising two-guard prospect and a chance at another promising prospect. Houston? They still have an overpaid backcourt and they might sneak into the playoffs now. OKC did really good here.

I disagree...I think OKC was really close...I think their lack of experience showed in the Finals and it was the difference...Their front line was missing in the Finals..Harden was missing in the Finals..They are all young..These issues can be resolved...I'm not so ready to anoint the Lakers as the team to beat..Kobe from the looks of the Olympics isn't the same player...Pau has disappeared the last few year and Kobe calling him out publicly didn't arouse any fight in him...How many years can Nash keep up this pace...They will have to prove they are a top team first...OKC has thoroughbreds...They will have to be reckoned with...