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Mike Wickett
 

Wickett's World - $4,500,000?? That's it?

by mike wickett , posted Oct 30 2012 8:54PM
$4,500,000??? That's it?
 
There was a big trade made right before the season tipped off. Houston aquired Oklahoma City's James Harden for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and (2) 1st round picks. Yes, I know there was some other stuff traded, but the rest are just typical NBA "garbage for garbage" pieces to make salaries even.
 
James Harden will regret this move. He wouldn't take $55.5 million over 4 years. He wanted 60. Really? Hey James, you're leaving a team that won 47 games last year (out of 66). You're leaving a team that was in the NBA finals. You're leaving a team that's ready to win NOW. You're leaving a team where you can go about your business doing your thing and make your money, under NO PRESSURE. You're now going to be counted on to come up big ALL OF THE TIME for a team that has hasn't made the playoffs since 2009. Good luck, bearded one. 
 
Harden's a nice player. A real good player, in fact. He averaged nearly 17 points per game in the OKC uptempo offense OFF THE BENCH. Impressive, but that's when he's wasn't the focal point of the offense. James Jones leads the NFL in TD catches, but is he really a #1?? Nope. It's nice getting coverage from #2/#3 DB's. Now, Harden's gotta be the man. Defenses will key on him, especially now that Kevin Martin is gone. Harden HAD the perfect situation. He was Chris Bosh. The 3rd banana on a GREAT big 3. Now what? Harden/Lin/Delfino? Maybe he lures another big name to Houston in the future...fine, but he'll never see KD3/Westbrook walk through those doors to join him. Remember that $4.5 million, James. Hope it's worth it to lose in the 1st round of the playoffs year after year.
 
And as for Houston giving up Martin (17ppg) Lamb (12th pick in the 2012 draft) AND 2 picks?? HUH?? you gave up 3 1st rounders for the 6th man of the year? Here's a list of 6th man winners. Any of those not named Manu worth THREE 1st round picks? Congrats, Houston. You've just aquired the most overrated PG of the 2011-12 season AND a pretty good 6th man. Good luck. 
 
Congrats OKC. Yes, chemistry may be tweaked a bit, but you're still set up to run to the Western Conference finals AND you're set to be pretty good for the future. Oh, and you still have Kevin Durant. If this was boxing, i'd have stopped this fight a while ago. A total NO CONTEST. 
 
Cheers to the NBA returning! 
 
~mw


Tags :  
Topics : Sports
Social :
Locations : Houston, Oklahoma City
People : Chris Bosh, James Harden, James Jones, Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Durant, Kevin Martin


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10/30/2012 7:54PM
Wickett's World - $4,500,000?? That's it?
Please Enter Your Comments Below
10/30/2012 10:50PM
Prince
This blog post proves you know nothing about the NBA. Harden is a star. Absolute steal for the Rockets. Thunder are crazy to give him up. Dont blame him for turning down the Thunder. He wants to be the man, and hell be that in Houston. The Rockets now have their star to go along with a ton of young, talented players. The Thunder just lost much needed player. They kept Ibaka over him, and theyll live to regret it. The return was ok, but Martin sucks, and Lamb is an unknown commodity.
10/30/2012 11:02PM
M.C. FLY
Harden just turned 23... Can easily score 25 a game and help lin out tremendously
10/31/2012 12:10AM
Nice Try, But You're Wrong
This blog proves how ridiculously misinformed you are. First, this wasn't about "just" $4.5 million as you indicate in your title. Houston can offer Harden a max deal of 5 years and $80 million something that OKC couldn't do since they aleardy have two five year max players. So, that's already $20 million. Then, you don't mention that there is no Texas state income tax. Oklahoma has a 5.5% state income tax rate. Therefore, at the aforementioned $80 maximum deal, Harden saves $4.4 million in state income tax. Add it up and that's already $24.4 million MORE in Harden's pockets. Of course, this doesn't even take into account the "status" of an NBA salary. You wear your salary like a badge of honor (for better or worse) in the NBA. YOU wouldn't want to be paid less than your worth and neither do NBA players. So, now that we got that mattered cleared up. Let's look at your analysis of James Harden. You are correct. Harden averaged 16.8 points per game off the bench for an elite team with several better options. Where you are wrong however is assuming that increased attention will limit his scoring abilities. Harden's early career is somewhat similar to Michael Redd who averaged 15.1 points per game off the bench before assuming a starting role and then averaged 21.7, 23.0, and 25.4 points per game the following three seasons. Why wouldn't Harden's career take a similar path? Didn't Redd get all the attention on those Bucks teams? Therefore, your argument is already flawed. Then, you just embarrass yourself further by using a Chris Bosh comparison. Chris Bosh is a 6 time All-Star who has averaged 20 points over his career including averaging over 22.5 points per game in five different seasons with the Raptors. Wasn't Bosh the ONLY option on those Raptors teams? By your logic wouldn't his scoring going UP since team's will draw their attention to LeBron and Wade? Whoops. Finally, Harden is just a piece in a Houston rebuilding project. Houston has the lowest payroll in the NBA this season and tons of cap room after this season. They'll be fine. Follow me @wikemickett Wike Mickett, the Ken Burns of making Wickett look like an a$$.
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