• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

James Harden rejects OKC Offer / *Traded* to Rockets

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Unbelieveable.

I cant believe this trade happened so close to the start of the season. When was the last time a trade of this magnitude happened at this time of year? I honestly cant remember one.

As always, Im trying to figure out how the Cavs can somehow benefit off of this. I see Varejao to OKC was already mentioned, and while that was my first thought as well, I agree that he isnt the best fit with Ibaka and Perkins already there. By the way, wow does Perkins have a bad contract.

indians braves before the 97 season. lofton and embree for grissom and justice. im sure there are others but thats what i remember
 
I cant believe this trade happened so close to the start of the season. When was the last time a trade of this magnitude happened at this time of year? I honestly cant remember one.

Presti has seen how this walk year played out in enough NBA cities recently to know the distraction is very real, and if you have a team you think can win a title you are best suited getting it out of the way early because it will hang like a dark cloud all season no matter how much the player wants it to or not.

Media every game would have kept asking about it, and nothing Harden could say or do short of signing was going to stop that.
 
Wow a lot of you are WAY over valuing Harden.

Did you not watch the playoffs? He was a NON-factor when it mattered most.

This was a GENIUS trade, gives them a ton of chips, and a ton of picks.

They weren't beating the Heat or the Lakers as currently constructed. OKC continues to prove that they have the balls to be a great small market team. Bravo Presti, bravo.
 
Presti has seen how this walk year played out in enough NBA cities recently to know the distraction is very real, and if you have a team you think can win a title you are best suited getting it out of the way early because it will hang like a dark cloud all season no matter how much the player wants it to or not.

Media every game would have kept asking about it, and nothing Harden could say or do short of signing was going to stop that.

By trading Harden, bolded is no longer applicable. That is the main problem with this trade. They went from legit contender to "waiting for next year."
 
Wow a lot of you are WAY over valuing Harden.

Did you not watch the playoffs? He was a NON-factor when it mattered most.

This was a GENIUS trade, gives them a ton of chips, and a ton of picks.

They weren't beating the Heat or the Lakers as currently constructed. OKC continues to prove that they have the balls to be a great small market team. Bravo Presti, bravo.
yeah, one season makes or breaks a player.

lets ignore that he is the best young sg in the league, one of the best pick and roll players in the league, arguably okc's 2nd best player, and only just turned 23.

that's ok tho, because they got one of the worst defenders in the league who doesn't know what a healthy season is, an inefficient chucker rookie, and a pick that will be like 8-14. go okc go!
 
and why is trading harden the only possible solution to the money issue?

what about amnestying perk (which might happen anyway)? that cuts down on the $$ hit without making the team as worse.

what about the money the team has made in the past few years while capitalizing on the advantageous rookie contract situation with their stars? can they not sacrifice those profits in order to win multiple titles?

no, they wouldn't have a ton a flexibility going forward. but with durant, westbrook, harden, and ibaka is any more flexibility really needed?
 
If OKC can be successful without having any sort of passer or player that can get shots for others then the Cavs will be in perfect position with 2 ball dominate players on the same team. IMO OKC is relying on having scorers on the court at all times but Harden was a pretty good initiator of the offense and Westbrook isn't that type of player. Never has and never will be. They will rely a little more in Westbrook to initiate the offense for others and that's not a good idea.
 
heh...i knew this was coming. OKC couldn't maintain that roster for long - eventually one of those guys was going to want more money than OKC could pay. just proves that no team is going to have enough money to contend with the Heat. The CHeat timed their little scheme just right - they all got together right before the lockout. Now all the other teams will be held back by the new salary cap restrictions...the 3 douche nozzles locked up their roster early and agreed to take less in order to assemble a roster that no other team can afford to match post CBA.
 
no, they wouldn't have a ton a flexibility going forward.

Within about 3-4 seasons they would have been paying 3-4 to one for every dollar over the cap with no relief in sight because at that point they would have had Durant up for another monster extension.

I am shocked they offered Harden $14 million knowing the cap implications.

All the new salary cap did was screw mid market teams that draft well in their attempt to stick it to the big markets who sign free agents.
 
All the new salary cap did was screw mid market teams that draft well in their attempt to stick it to the big markets who sign free agents.

true, but pretty soon the big market teams will be feeling that salary cap as well. those penalties are going to hurt the big boys too. Eventually i think it will balance things out, but right now we're still in the transition to the post CBA league.
 
heh...i knew this was coming. OKC couldn't maintain that roster for long - eventually one of those guys was going to want more money than OKC could pay. just proves that no team is going to have enough money to contend with the Heat. The CHeat timed their little scheme just right - they all got together right before the lockout. Now all the other teams will be held back by the new salary cap restrictions...the 3 douche nozzles locked up their roster early and agreed to take less in order to assemble a roster that no other team can afford to match.

Exactly. Too many people are still in the pre-cap mindset of just pay the tax like we used to, not realizing that Dan Gilbert never would have went to the levels financially he did under the new system.

Teams have to make tough choices now after the sign on 2 max guys, because it gets way too expensive to continually run over the tax level.

The rule was meant to make it really hard for another Heat situation to happen, but the end result has been to cripple teams that draft well because they can't afford to keep the core together.
 
Have to wonder if this makes an Andy to OKC trade at the deadline more likely.

They have all sorts of non major pieces that could still help us down the road like the Mavs top 20 protected pick and Perry Jones. Or if at the deadline it looks like the Toronto was not going to be a playoff team, but stuck in the 10-14 range, that pick
 
Presti doesn't screw around. Good trade for the Thunder.
 
true, but pretty soon the big market teams will be feeling that salary cap as well. those penalties are going to hurt the big boys too. Eventually i think it will balance things out, but right now we're still in the transition to the post CBA league.

No doubt they will feel it.

It is 1:1 for the next 2 years on the tax, but it is that 14-15 season that will eat teams alive that have been over the cap for the past few seasons leading up to it. Everyone is trying to time their caps to get under for that season so they can get out of the repeat offender violation where it starts getting prohibitive to be over.
 
Re: James Harden rejects 4 year/ $52 Million OKC Offer

Well, apparently that extension snub hit too close to home:



Edit: here are some conditions, apparently:

Wait... what? o_O
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top