Per a release from the Thunder:
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks and a second round pick from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard James Harden, center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
“We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers,” Presti said. “We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin’s caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team. We appreciate James, Cole, Daequan and Lazar’s contributions to the Thunder organization and this community and wish them the best in the future.”
The Thunder came up as high as four years, $55.5 million for Harden according to reports but it obviously wasn’t enough. In the end, Presti and the Thunder cut their loses and dealt away one of the most important pieces on the team.
The Thunder get two first round picks (via Toronto and Dallas), as well as a second rounder (via Charlotte). The Toronto pick is top-three protected.
More reaction coming soon.
[...] down over a max contract extension the small market Thunder could ill-afford, general manager Sam Presti sent Harden to the Houston Rockets for a comparable but less versatile scorer, an intriguing prospect, and cap space and flexibility [...]