James Harden traded to Houston Rockets

What does winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in the NBA get you these days?  It gets you traded to another team.  Lamar Odom, winner of the award for the 2010-11 season, was traded to Dallas by the Lakers before the start of the 2011-12 season.  It didn’t work out for Odom, who had a horrible year for the Mavericks and is attempting to come back with the L.A. Clippers.

James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder was last season’s best sixth man.  He could not reach a contract deal with the Thunder and was traded just before the opening of the 2012-13 season to the Houston Rockets in a multiplayer and draft choice deal.  They were gushing about the trade on the Rockets’ website, and although they are getting an excellent player in Harden plus three other players, they are also giving up two first and one second round draft choice, guard Kevin Martin, plus former Connecticut star Jeremy Lamb, who was Houston’s number one pick in this year’s draft.

Oklahoma City made it to the NBA Finals last season, ultimately losing to Miami. Harden played a big role on that team, and it remains to be seen how much this will affect them this year.  Lamb was the 12th overall pick in the draft, and with a pair of first round picks coming up, a setback this year could be short lived. Harden will be a free agent after the season, and the small market Thunder came to the realization that Harden would get more money elsewhere in a bigger city so they traded him while they still could. At least he didn’t end up with the Lakers or Heat.