The Oklahoma City Thunder, unable to reach an agreement on James Harden's contract extension, traded the guard to the Houston Rockets.
In a rather surprising deal the Thunder picked shooting guards Jeremy Lamb and Kevin Martin along with draft picks. They also sent center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to the Rockets.
Oklahoma City were in a dilemma, unable to decide whether to extend Harden's contract or allow him to become a restricted free agent next July. Oct. 31 was the deadline to make the decision. They had already signed Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant to long-term goals and it seems they realized that Harden would demand a greater salary than they could not afford.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement: "We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers.
"We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin's caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team."
Oklahoma City are pleased with acquiring Kevin Martin who has an average of 18.4 points in 8 NBA seasons.
But Harden was a vital contributor to the Thunder's success. He had even stated that he would sacrifice dollars to retain a spot with Oklahama City. He averaged 16.8 points and 3.7 assists in the previous season. He was seen struggling against Miami in the NBA finals which the Thunder lost.
As reported by Yahoo Sports, Harden had turned down a 4-year contract worth $52 million which prompted the Thunder to quickly trade him to the Rockets.
Houston Rockets have time until Wednesday to sign Harden.
Leslie Alexander, the Rockets owner said: "While I never like having to send out quality players like Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, this trade gives us a chance to make an immediate impact on the future of our franchise moving forward.
"James Harden was part of Team USA's gold medal team at the London Olympics and is one of the most skilled shooting guards in the NBA."
Jeremy Lin, the new Rockets point guard expressed his thoughts about the trade on Twitter. "Really sad to see Kmart and JLamb go...both class acts and great teammates. Welcome Harden, Cook, Aldrich and Hayward to Houston!!"
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