When Thirteen Ain't Enough...

You see what I did there?

First of all let me just say this before I go in. James Harden's performance last year and during the playoffs has earned him the right to get a much bigger contract. Now, with that being said, let's be real for a second. How much clout should you really expect being a sixth man? Also, leaving a good situation to be the man doesn't always work out. Go ask Tracy McGrady. Or Stephan Marbury.

James Harden turned down 52 million to go to Houston for 60 million. Now, let’s be real again, when you're making that much money, that extra 8 million isn't that huge of a deal. So there was some premeditation or hidden reasoning behind him turning down that contract extension. I just don't see the logic in this situation either. Why leave a championship contender to go to a playoff hopeful? Oh yea, also go ask Turkoglu, who left Orlando to go to Toronto to stink it up, realize he wasn't that great then came crawling back, but I digress. As good as Harden is, what team has a legitimate shot with him running the show? Louis Scola is gone, Courtney Lee is gone, and Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry are also gone. So with two players with 7 years experience, and the average time in the league at around 2.5 years, what exactly are the Rockets going to do differently? Harden and Lin will be the stars for Houston, and to me that spells Draft Lottery.

Now on the other hand for OKC, that's another blow to the brotherhood-like chemistry they had built up over the years through the draft. They won't be as good but they won’t drop very far because the addition of Kevin Martin will be better than most think. He's nowhere near as good a playmaker as Harden, but as a shooter he is as good if not better. One of the knocks on Martin has been he is a tab bit uncoachable, but I think a little dose of winning will cure all that. They also get Jeremy Lamb, who has a lot of potential but I'm not sure he'll be much of a factor his first year.

But all in all…Harden made an awful and selfish choice and OKC lost a little but definitely come out more on top in comparison.

Peace.