According to Yahoo! Sports, The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to the Houston Rockets after not being able to agree to a contract extension with the guard.
Rockets will send SG Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and future draft considerations to the Thunder for Harden, sources told Y! Sports. Along with Harden, the Thunder will send Cole Aldridge, Lazar Hayward and Daequan Cook to the Rockets.
Houston also sent two 2013 first-round picks (from Dallas and Toronto) to Oklahoma City. The first-round picks have varying degrees of protection on them, but the one from Toronto is assured of being in the lottery.
Contract extension talks between the Thunder and Harden broke down, and general manger Sam Presti moved quickly to get a trade done. Harden rejected a four-year offer that would have paid him $52 million.
The Thunder are paying franchise stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook maximum contracts. They also agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $48 million with forward Serge Ibaka in August.
The trade breaks up the Thunder’s young core, that carried the franchise into the NBA Finals last year.
Harden, 23, averaged 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season.
(Source: Yahoo!Sports )
