The Oklahoma City Thunder have dealt 23-year old shooting guard James Harden, 23-year old center Cole Aldrich, 25-year old SG/SF Daequan Cook and 25-year old small forward Lazar Hayward to the Houston Rockets. In return, the Thunder are getting 29-year old shooting guard Kevin Martin, 20-year old rookie shooting guard Jeremy Lamb, first round picks in 2013 belonging to the Mavericks and Raptors. They are also getting the Bobcats’ second round pick in 2013, which is going to be a really high one.
James Harden was offered a 4-year, $52 million dollar deal last year and he turned it down, forcing the Thunder’s hand. Harden played in 62 games (2 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2011-12 season. Harden played in 220 games (7 starts) in his three years with the Thunder and he averaged 26.7 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Daequan Cook played in 57 games (22 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 17.4 minutes, 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He played in 100 games (22 starts) in his two years with the Thunder and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 5.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Cole Aldrich was a first round pick three years ago by the Thunder, but he hasn’t shown much yet. Aldrich played in 26 games (0 starts) for the Thunder last year and he averaged 6.7 minutes, 2.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He played in 44 games (0 starts) for the Thunder in his two years with the team and he averaged 7.2 minutes, 1.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Lazar Hayward played in 26 games (0 starts) last year for the Thunder and he averaged 5.4 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Harden is the only player in this quartet that the Thunder might miss.
Kevin Martin is likely going to take over Harden’s role off the bench in 2012-13. Martin played in 40 games (all starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 31.6 minutes, 17.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He has now played in 475 games (387 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 31.3 minutes, 18.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Jeremy Lamb is likely Harden’s long term replacement. Lamb was a first round pick out of Connecticut last June by the Rockets. He played in 34 games for the Huskies last year and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He played in 75 games in his two years in college and he averaged 32.1 minutes, 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. When you add the three draft picks to Martin and Lamb……you have to like this deal a lot for the Thunder.