OKC is supposedly wary of the new luxury tax, but I am still puzzled by this decision. Kevin Martin's contract is up after the upcoming season, so OKC can be making salary dump move. Not sure but this definitely hurts their chances of getting back to the Finals. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8562868/oklahoma-city-thunder-trade-james-harden-houston-rockets
Out of all the players to trade, he is by far one of the top 3 most valuable players on the team and I'm not referring to salary.
As a okc fan hate this happened but as a small market team, smart business move. Harden was gone just matter of when , ibaka and he blew up at the same time, easier finding swingmen than 6'10 young athletic shot blockers, they had to pay surge instead of harden , also tells me maynor is 100% , that also means we ain't getting rid of fisher which saddens me, I know he is a vet and a leader but what is a 5'10 non point guard who can no longer defend 36 pus cat doing still getting burn on a serious contender ?
I'm a Spurs fan, so I'm happy this trade happened. This cat TORCHED us in the eastern conference finals!.....lol. But still, senseless move by OKC, though. He probably would've been willing to stay in OKC for less money. Durant & Westbrook can't feel good about this @ all...
I'm questioning OKC and James Harden in this situation. OKC had the whole season to hold onto Harden and make a run, there was no need to trade him before the season even starts. For Harden, why would you turn down a $55.5 million deal from OKC for a $60 million deal with Houston? Does $4.5 million really make a difference when you get to play for a championship almost every year.
I think Harden's ego got the best of him. He wants to be a starter on a team that wants him to continue coming off the bench. Maybe he wants to be the star of his own team, so he goes to a young Rockets team, where he knows he'll be "the man".
Trevor Ariza thought the same thing when he left the Lakers. He signed a 5 year $33 million deal with Houston to be "the man" and they shipped him out a year later to New Orleans. Harden will now become a journeyman across the NBA.
Keep in mind these guys have a small window of time to make as much $ as they can. Their careers could end on any play, in practice, game, or training, that $4.5 million could make a BIG difference especially if it is guaranteed.
Everyone makes their own choices, but I think my life with $55 million would look similar to my life with $60 million . Both deals were for four years and all NBA players have guaranteed contracts. So I guess that extra money meant more than competing for championships.
Not all parts of the contract are guaranteed, signing bonus, playoff money ect, can be contingent on negotiated terms. Teams can and have successfully argued that the player was negligent in his preparation or training, engaging in prohibited activities, ect. when seeking to nullify guaranteed money. Not to mention there is always the potential for strike/lockout years when they get paid $0 from the team and the stipend they receive from the players union is less than pocket change to the players. Also keep in mind that the $55/$60 million gets whittled down real quick after paying taxes, paying an agent, paying an accountant, the seemingly almost inevitable divorce, the seemingly almost inevitable child support, falling into the trap of buying the big boy toys they all buy, helping family and friends, and so on and so on, very easy, as countless tragic pro athlete bankruptcy stories can attest, for the money to go very fast.
Well money management is a completely different story. I agree that athletes don't manage their money well. But if you can blow through $55 million...you can blow through $60 million. The problem is that most of these guys don't just buy things. Bankruptcy should never happen. You could spend $20 million on homes, cars, and whatever else in cash. Then still have $35-40 million in the bank to save and invest.
I understand what you are saying, but say its $60 million, they will loose approximately $20 million to taxes, another $2.4 million (4% is the most an NBA agent can charge on salary negotiation, up to 20% on endorsements) to an agent, if he then spends another 20 million on homes, cars, ect. that leaves only $17.6 million left, and he still has not paid for living expenses, upkeep on all those toys, lawyers, accountants, ect. As I said, one good divorce and child support issues, and that extra $4.5 million all of a sudden becomes VERY important.
Haha! Well then I can only speak for myself. I would have signed the $55 million deal and played for a championship several times over the next decade with OKC. Instead he gets the same amount of money, in my eyes, and will be on a middle of the road team in Houston and most likely get traded to another team in 2-3 years.
Can certainly see where you are coming from on this, in my experience working with athletes, very few of them truly care about winning for winning's sake. They care about getting paid and performing well enough to earn their performance bonuses or extra playoff money. They only care about winning a championship if it means more endorsement money or off-court business opportunity comes their way. Given the cut-throat nature of pro sports, and that the team will get rid of you in a blink of an eye if they think it will help the team, no matter who you are, such attitudes are somewhat justified imo.
Apropos of that: [HDYT]Vh79Cz6SNiM[/HDYT] I'm on the side that OKC pulled the trigger too early on such a trade and I foresee them taking a hit in the gradual progress they made from 2010. 2010: First round exit. 2011: WCF exit. 2012: Lost in the Finals. The presence of Kevin Martin will not make up for the deficit of having lost James Harden. Sam Presti should've hung in there for the 2013 postseason, not traded the best player coming off the bench for any team. On the plus side, this makes my Lakers even stronger for the season.
as soon as ibaka got his extension harden days in okc were numbered, hell no he shouldn't sign for less, whos to say durant or Westbrook doesn't blow out a knee, okc could gonon a run and win titles then again they could stall they do play Perkins major mins who is god awful lol, okc had to move him now while they still had leverage they got 2 1st rd picks and Martin, think small market when it comes to okc they can't afford that luxury tax, la new York can pay it with local tv contracts just like the Yankees does , they should have amensty Perkins and signed harden but for some reason in their mind Perkins is valuable ( I don't think they should have traded green for him anyway) that trade also put them in this position, then again I was pissed off when they drafted harden instead of tyreke Evans lol so what do I know ?
For a small market team like OKC, remember they got back two first round picks (one is lottery protected) and a second round pick as well, in a league like the NBA where draft picks can help your right away. Given the circumstances they got a lot for him, given he was holding out for a max contract.
^^Yeah, true, but again, I know Durant & Westbrook is blown away by this news. I've seen some really good players come out of the draft, but they didn't develop the "rhythm chemistry" with the team they went to. Durant, Westbrook, & Harden had that chemistry, and then some! In the NBA today where you can often see players traded in the blink of an eye, that "rhythm chemistry" is hard to develop..
