Things Found In James Harden's Beard: Nov.2012

James harden has had a busy November.

Who Be Ballin? James Harden 10-31-12

James Harden (I know, I know, not again) was lookin good in a game against the Pistons with 37 points, 6 boards, and 12 assists.  He had a hot hand and his teammates knew it.  There were a lot of good lines out there today, but to put up these numbers in a system that you JUST joined.  I mean, its like he just stepped off the bus then put up almost 40 points.  He basically played point and Jeremy Lin kind of disappeared (Im calling this out Linsanity snobs).  Althooooooooooooough, I do hafta give a shout out to Dwight Howard who put up 33 points, 14 boards, and 5 assists.

Houston, We Got a Swingman

Houston is slowly molding a team together down in Texas. After they did everything they could to make a move for Dwight Howard and it failed, they again made headlines by officially snagging reigning Sixth Man of The Year from the Oklahoma Thunder.

Alongside PG Jeremy Lin, who they stole from New York with their backloaded offer sheet this past summer, it seems Houston will be looking to make their franchise revolve around their 2 backcourt additions.

I'm nervous if the moves are enough to change the direction of the team, however. It's a step in the right direction, for sure, but I feel both players will have a difficult time performing in their new roles. Both flourished with their former teams in smaller roles, where emphasis was put on other players while they more than successfully accented their play. Lin did shine when he took over the the Knicks with Amare and Melo out back during that magically run earlier in the year, but I think its going to be rough for Lin to do it again with so much expected out of him. Harden is a similar situation. He came off the bench with OKC. He swung games but he was never asked to do what Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had to do every night. 

Can Harden put up 22+ pts a game as a starter next to Lin? Can Lin get double digit points and assists, without constantly turning over the ball?

The Rockets are going to be locked into huge contracts with Harden (most likely signing a max contract in coming days), Lin, and Asik. Can they afford to surround him with another superstar? Josh Smith, maybe, next summer? 

2012 rookies F Royce White and F Terrence Jones will need to defy expectations, while former Houston Rocket 1st Rd picks F Patrick Patterson (2010) , F Chandler Parsons (2011), and Marcus Morris (2011) need to step up their games. Big man, Asik will need to prove he wasn't extremely overpaid this summer, too. 

Harden Out.

     Shocked.  Eh, maybe slightly less than shocked. More surprised, really.  Yes. Surprised.  I am surprised that the Thunder traded off Harden.  I am not surprised that they would trade him, that seemed inevitable with the new stricter stipulations on salary caps, but I am amazed that they did it so early.
     The early trade has eliminated a lot of potentially more beneficial offers in the future.  Possibly.  Not only that, but pulling the trigger so prematurely also means that all the players involved in the trade will have almost no experience with their new teams before the beginning of the season.    
     This move for sure is going to have a huge impact on The Thunder in the short term, most certainly more of a negative one than a positive.  Durant, Westbrook, and Harden have basically been the big three at Oklahoma city for years now.  The three have played together through some rough times early on, and grown into an efficient workhorse of a team.  This trade could severely impact the fluidity of their game, not only because of how little experience Martin will have in this system, but also because those three have openly expressed just how much they love playing together.  There is nothing quite so gripping as playing basketball with someone for so long and developing a play style that reflects your identities, just to be ripped apart.
   

     Kevin Martin has been a scorer his whole career but has never really developed into that next level that would make him a star.  Harden and Martin both have a similar impact on that level of the game, but not in defense.  Not even close. Harden is much more of a lock down perimeter defender and is more efficient with the ball in his hands, whereas Martin tends to hack and slash and jack up shots on a whim.
     On the long term side of things however, the Thunder seem to have it figured out.  They got a LOT for Harden.  Too much in my opinion, but tell that to a Houston team who would have been lucky to cap .300 this season.  Real lucky.  So now the Thunder have a guard that looks to have a high potential, as well as a fill in shooting guard who can put up points when hes called on.  Oh ya, and also some first round picks from teams that are almost guaranteed to be high.  
     The Rockets don't seem to have things so figured out.  After trying to claw their way into the Dwight Howard trade talks, they jumped ship and started fresh.  So, they dumped off a lot for a piece they think might bring them a building block for a team that I thought was supposed to be rebuilding.  And that building block is used to coming off of the bench and has said many times he prefers it.  I'm not saying that he cant start, but I'm not sure if hes "that guy".  I am also amazed that they dumped off Jeremy Lamb in the deal.  Lamb has shown in the summer league that he can be a more than potent threat with the ball in his grip and has a ton of potential. Come on, guys.
     Well, in the long run, another smart move by the Thunder, another questionable move for the Rockets.  Who would have thought?

       

Harden Traded to Rockets

The Thunder couldn't afford James Harden. So they moved him.

Thunder trading James Harden to Houston for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, a protected first-round pick from Toronto, a protected 1st-round pick from Dallas & a 2013 Charlotte second rounder.

Holy Hell.

Per @darnellmayberry