James Harden traded to Houston Rockets.

After a sloppy NBA Finals, James Harden will not have a chance to redeem himself in Oklahoma City.  The Thunder have dealt the visually flamboyant Sixth Man of the Year to the Houston Rockets for  guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick.

OKC also sent also sent center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to Houston.

The Rockets clearly opened the vault to acquire Harden and though Thunder fans are upset to watch the bearded one walk out the door, this was a deal that will only make the team stronger.

The Rockets are expected to sign Harden to the max deal that he coveted that the Thunder was not prepared to pay him.

The deadline for the Thunder to extend Harden was hanging over OKC like a past due IRS notice and they certainly got more value for Harden now than they would have in the future as he became a restricted free agent.

“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,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement.

“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.”

The Young Guns have some new pistols in their stable that may help them get over the hump and bring them championship gold.

It may take some time envisioning this group without Harden, but under the leadership of Kevin Durant and coach Scott Brooks, they will be just fine.

They remain Players View’s prediction to win the West now more than ever.

As for Houston, the chemistry between Harden and point guard Jeremy Lin will be hard to come by. Their playing styles may seemingly mesh well but they are both pop culture phenoms that would assumingly expect to be “the man” in a new location.

Adrian Glover

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