MONDAY, 1:30pm: All the physicals and paperwork relating to the Harden trade have been completed, meaning the Rockets can now officially negotiate and sign an extension for Harden, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). As Feigen notes, extension talks shouldn't drag on, since a max-salary offer is expected.
SUNDAY, 1:49pm: According to SI.com's Ben Golliver, Harden has indicated he will sign a maximum extension with the Rockets before Wednesday's deadline.
10:15am: Harden has expressed interest in the maximum-salary deal that the Rockets will offer him, Mark Berman of Fox 26 hears (Twitter link). Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has no doubt Harden will sign the extension, calling it a "slam dunk" (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 10:42pm: Wojnarowski adds that the Rockets, unlike the Thunder, are able to give Harden a five-year maximum extension. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team is allowed to designate one player to receive a five-year max extension, and the Thunder have already given one to Russell Westbrook. You can view a complete list of teams who have used their five-year extensions here.
10:20pm: Wojnarowski reports (Twitter links) that the Thunder's final offer to Harden was for between $53 and $54MM over four years, and the extension the Rockets will give him once the trade is completed will be worth $60MM over four years.
10:14pm: ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports that the Rockets plan to sign Harden to the maximum four-year contract extension he was seeking from the Thunder before Wednesday's deadline.
10:06pm: Wojnarowski has clarified the draft picks the Thunder will receive in the deal (Twitter links). Oklahoma City will receive 2013 first-round picks from the Rockets belonging to Dallas and Toronto, in addition to a 2013 second-round pick belonging to Charlotte.
10:02pm: Specifics of the picks the Thunder will receive from the Rockets are not clear, but Wojnarowski reports that they will be "significant." He adds that Thunder GM Sam Presti quickly decided to trade Harden after extension talks broke down. Earlier Saturday, Wojnarowski reported that Harden had rejected an offer of four years at $52MM from the Thunder but that the sides were continuing to negotiate.
9:47pm: Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports (all Twitter links) that the Oklahoma City Thunder have traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets along with Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward, and Daequan Cook in exchange for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, and future draft picks.
Harden Lin and Asik are a nice place to start
asik can only play defense though
Thats the way a lot of centers are now unless they are the star player, there are only a few centers that average more than 10 ppg.
thats true
Asik now has tremenous playmakers at the 1 2 and 4 positions to get him the ball
good trade for both teams. If Harden thinks he worth more than 4yrs 52mil he ridiculous. OKC gets some nice players and great future draft picks.
I guess the Rockets think he’s worth the maximum.
I very much dislike you in retrospect as a Thunder fan.
It’s only a good trade for OKC if they continue to draft well & Martin stays healthy. Martin is a 1 year rental at $12 mil for this season and then a UFA.
Harden isn’t there to worry about extending and Martins 12M comes off the books at seasons end it’s a win win since they couldn’t extend Harden.
Are either of those draft picks protected in anyway? Because I’m not sure how good either the Mavs or the Raptors will be this year.
The raptors pick is backwards protected it basically has to be a lottery pick. The Mavs picks is top 20 protected for 2012-2013
Concerning the Raps-Rockets-OKC Pick:
Like Cory Taylor replied, it’s basically a lottery pick:
– For five years (2013-2017), the pick is protected for the Thunder so that they can only receive a lottery pick. Should the Raptors qualify for the postseason in all of those five straight seasons, the Thunder will get a non-lottery pick in 2018.
However, it’s also slightly protected for the Raptors:
– Top-3 protected in 2013
– Top-2 protected in 2014 and 2015
– No. 1 overall protected in 2016 and 2017
the mavs pick is top 20 protected and the raptors pick is top 3 protected via kyle lowry trade
Funny how the Rockets would pony up for a #2 option at best in Harden but wouldn’t pony up for a top 5 player in Dwight Howard….
Lol