With the start of the season just around the corner, a title contender dealt its third-best player, netting a lot of future value in the process. Numbers Game looks at the deal sending James Harden to the Rockets, with Kevin Martin heading to Oklahoma City. The Rockets Get: SG James Harden, SG Daequan Cook, C Cole Aldrich and SF Lazar Hayward. Harden, 23, has rapidly ascended in his first three seasons in the NBA, making the U.S. Olympic Team this summer, coming off a year in which he was named the NBAs Sixth Man of the Year, after averaging 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Whats most impressive about Hardens production is the efficiency with which he does it. As the third option behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, Harden put up those numbers with only 10.7 field goal attempts per game, leaving him with a True Shooting Percentage of 66.0%, best among all players that had at least 400 attempts from the field. In Houston, Harden becomes the primary offensive option, which will probably cut into his efficiency, but will crank up his per-game production. On a team that already gutted much of its roster (losing Luis Scola, Martin, Kyle Lowry, Courtney Lee and Goran Dragic) in the hopes of landing Dwight Howard in the offseason, the Rockets dont return a player that had more field goal attempts per game than SF Chandler Parsons, at 8.7 per game. With a starting job available to him, Harden may see an uptick in the 31.4 minutes per game he played last season, but he seems assured of getting more looks at the offensive end. If he embraces the lead scorer role for Houston, Harden might get 16-17 attempts per game and while its unlikely that hes as efficient as he was in 2011-2012, he could be ready to jump to 20 points per game for the Rockets. Harden was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season and was unable to work out an agreement on an extension with Oklahoma City, prompting the move. Houston is reportedly set to ink Harden to a max money extension, potentially something in the neighbourhood of five years and $80-million. Daequan Cook is a 25-year-old swingman who started a career-high 22 games last season, though he averaged a modest 17.4 minutes per game (5.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.4 three-pointers per game). Cook takes the majority of his shots from beyond the arc (4.0 of 5.2 per game, 76.9%, last season) and could reasonably fill a spot in Houstons rotation. Hes in the final year of a deal paying him a touch more than $3.09-million (www.hoopshype.com). 23-year-old Cole Aldrich has played sporadically through his first two NBA seasons, never scoring more than six points in a game and reaching double digit minutes in only six games last season. Hes a 6-foot-11 centre who can block shots -- his 3.3 per 36 minutes last season ranked eighth among all NBA players -- but he played so little its difficult to forecast that into production as a regular in the rotation. Aldrich makes $2.445-million this season and the Rockets have a team option for 2012-2013. If he somehow develops into a rotation player, then he would be relatively inexpensive at #3.245M but, if not, its easy enough to let him walk. Hayward, 25, has played a total of 560 minutes in 68 games over his two NBA seasons. He barely saw action with the Thunder last season, but did score in double figures four times for Minnesota in 2010-2011. Like Aldrich, the Rockets hold a team option on him for next season and unless he takes a quantum leap ahead this season, it would seem unlikely that Hayward has that option picked up. The Thunder Get: SG Kevin Martin, SG Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick. Martin, 29, has been a productive scorer for much of his NBA career, averaging at least 20 points per game for five straight seasons prior to last years 17.1 points per game. While Martin has been an offensive focal point, for the most part, he wont have that role in Oklahoma City where, even if (unlike Harden) Martin starts, hes going to be the number three option behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Though Martin can score, he doesnt offer much else. His rebounding and defence arent necessarily championship-calibre, so the Thunder will need to accomodate for some of his shortcomings, in addition to benefitting from his ability to shoot. Martin is in the last year of a deal that pays him #12.939-million. A skinny swingman who has ace defensive potential, 20-year-old Jeremy Lamb was the 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft. He averaged 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 38.2% from the field in six preseason contests, so hes not yet ready for primetime, least of all for a team that harbours championship aspirations. However, as a long-term asset, Lamb could eventually become a starter in Okllahoma City. The first-round picks come to Oklahoma City via Houston. The first belonged originally to the Toronto Raptors and it is unusually lottery-protected, meaning that it will go to the Thunder if the pick falls in the lottery, but outside the top three picks next season, the top two picks the next two years and the top pick in 2016. Even if it turns out to be a late lottery selection, that can net the Thunder a pretty good player. The other first-round pick belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers, so that one seems much more likely to fall in the late stages of the first round, when the draft becomes even more risk-laden. The second-round pick was property of the Boston Celtics. Again, that seems like it will most likely occur late in the second round, so not huge value, but okay as the fifth assset the Thunder acquired to make this trade. Theres no arguing the long-term value that the Thunder acquired in this deal. Even if the last couple picks dont pan out, Martins expiring contract, Lambs potential and the pick that must fall in the lottery all provide potential long-term value for Oklahoma City, perhaps even more than they would have received by holding on to Harden. However, in the short-term, the Thunder appear to be taking a step back -- maybe not a big one, maybe not even a full one -- but as a finalist last year, they were already facing a daunting challenge from the re-loaded Lakers in the Western Conference this season and not having their third-best player could make the difference. That they secured long-term value for a player that might have only been around for one more year makes all kinds of sense for the Thunder, but if they dont get over the championship hump in the next couple seasons, it will get more difficult to justify the risk of dealing a rising star who gave Oklahoma City a legitimate shot at the 2013 NBA Championship. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.
cheap jerseys from china . "I dont look at them as the Big Three. I look at them as the Championship Four," the Philadelphia coach said.
wholesale jerseys . The veteran Winnipeg skip finally earned the right to represent Canada at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia next year with an 8-4 victory over Sherry Middaugh in the Canadian Curling Trials final Saturday night.
http://www.cheapauthenticjerseyschina.net/ .com) - Fallout from the Rangers dismal 1-4-0 start has begun.
cheap jerseys . With players jobs and holding onto season ticket-holders on the line, the 5-17-6 MLS team knows it needs to make a point in the final six games of the season -- starting Saturday with the visit of the almost equally woeful Philadelphia Union (7-13-5).
cheap nfl jerseys . Former No. 1 Roger Federer joined Djokovic in the round of 64 with a victory of his own on Monday. The second-seeded Djokovic had little trouble in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker.TORONTO - The Raptors nearly shocked everyone with their second-half comeback in an eventual defeat to the two-time defending champs. Everyone except the champs themselves, that is. "We get the best of each team we play," the Heats Dwyane Wade recognized shortly before his team handed the division-leading Raptors their ninth loss in 15 games to begin the season. "We dont even look at records, it doesnt matter." "Teams come out and theyre ready to play us, and rightfully so. Weve earned it." But the home team did not come out ready to play, not like their coach had hoped and expected them to following a similarly slow start in a defeat three days prior. "Our defence, pressure on the basketball, tags and our rotations were a step slow in the first half," Dwane Casey said after Torontos 90-83 loss to Miami. A well-oiled machine, Miamis offence steamrolled over the Raptors in the first half. Toronto fell behind by 14 at the break and trailed by as much as 20 midway through the third quarter before the alarm clock finally went off. Torontos defence woke up, holding the Heat to one field goal in the final five minutes of the third quarter and cutting the deficit to two late in the fourth. Still, as it was against Brooklyn on Tuesday and has been so often in the past, it wasnt enough to save the Raptors from suffering an inevitable loss to a team that feasts on those who lose their focus. "Right now were a one-half team," Casey said. "Weve got to get two solid halves put together." Easier said than done. "Whats it going to take," Tyler Hansbrough asked, rhetorically. "Thats a good question. Its a mindset. On the road weve had games where weve put it together and played pretty well, weve just got to do it at home." "I dont know the answer to be honest with you," he continued. "Were a hell of a team when we fight back but we cant let it get to that," said DeRozan, who again was exceptional in defeat; scoring 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting. "Weve got to be a team that plays a full, two halves of basketball." Even after showingg up late, the Raptors had their opportunities thanks in large part to a renewed defensive focus that stymied Miamis free-flowing offence late in the game.dddddddddddd Alas, Toronto turned the ball over 21 times - leading to 26 Heat points - and missed eight of ten fourth-quarter free throws. DeRozan and Gay, both 80 per cent free throw shooters on the season prior to Fridays game, connected on five of their 14 attempts from the stripe. "Thats everything," Gay said of the missed free throws. "To finish a game youve got to hit free throws and finish at the rim. It was tough for us to do either." Coming off a 3-for-12 performance on Tuesday - one that prompted a late-night shooting session - Gay was moderately better, scoring 21 points, however he needed 21 shots to do so. His inefficiency from the painted area persisted, especially late in the game, and his pair of missed free throws with a minute and a half left were crucial in defeat. The Raptors are still searching for an answer to Caseys conundrum. How do they put it all together? The Heat are and will continue to be the NBAs bench mark. Theyre more than an enormously talented team. On top of their talent they have developed an identity and chemistry as a team that is a joy to watch and almost impossible to stop. No matter how talented the team, the Heat know that what theyve been able to achieve does not come easy for anybody. "You cant cheat it," Wade preached. "I think the first year when we were together we tried to cheat it, we tried to say, lets do it right now and we got to the championship but when we got there we realized that the continuity that we really needed, when we really needed it, wasnt there." "We didnt have enough time to build it. So it takes time to build." Toronto has dropped 12 straight games to the Heat since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined forces with Wade and 13 straight contests to Miami overall. Up next The Raptors will conclude a season-long four game homestand on Sunday afternoon playing host to the Denver Nuggets, a game you can catch on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 1:00pm et.
cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '