Tweet of the Night: Jeremy Lin

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Crazyyyy energy from the fans tonight!! Bittersweet night...gonna really miss my bros @ @ @ and TD
February 21, 2013 1:15 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@JLin7
Jeremy Lin

75 combined points from Jeremy Lin and James Harden against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

122-119 victory for the Houston Rockets.

Something would be terribly wrong if the fans weren’t amped up from a performance of that magnitude, against opponents of that caliber, from two of their brightest stars. Check out one of Harden’s impressive buckets below:

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Bernucca: At $100 million, Deron Williams may be damaged goods

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Let’s, for a moment, put aside some of the perceptions about Deron Williams. 

Let’s forget that he eats coaches like they are M&M’s.

Let’s dismiss that he complains about everything from set offenses to background lighting in arenas.

Let’s overlook that he took a little too much enjoyment in swinging the sledgehammer of free agency.

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SH Blog: Time will tell who won the Harden-Martin trade

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The big trade between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets shook the basketball world on Saturday evening. Ever-so-close to the pinnacle last season, the Thunder were supposed to bring back third musketeer James Harden to compete for the Western Conference championship and NBA Finals this season and for many more to come.

And then… Poof! Voila! Vamoose!

Harden is 445 miles south in Houston with his ex-Thunder teammates Lazar Hayward, Daequan Cook and Cole Aldrich.

Kevin Martin, his expiring $12 million contract and rookie Jeremy Lamb are headed north to OKC for the 2012-13 season, along with two 2013 first-round draft picks (Toronto’s top-3 protected pick, as well as Dallas’ selection). The Thunder also received the Bobcats’  2013 second-rounder.

People have been quick to judge this deal — perhaps none more so than our own Chris Bernucca, who hates it from OKC’s standpoint. And we are using the word “hate” loosely. And while everyone is entitled to their opinion, mine is that the end results of this trade won’t be realized until years down the road.

Along with factoring in how Martin and Lamb develop as members of the Thunder, we need to analyze the utilization of the draft picks Oklahoma City acquired to make sense of this deal.

For the Rockets, the trade will be primarily judged by the ability of Harden to become a true maximum salary player. If Aldrich, Hayward and Cook (who is a one-year rental) can become adequate role players, they’ve done their job.

For the Thunder, and their fans, it is more emotional — and with good reason.

With a chance to compete for multiple championships, how could management let Harden get away when the sides were a mere $6 million apart?

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Fantasy Fallout: James Harden and Kevin Martin Trade

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Wow, a true blockbuster trade. James Harden is a Houston Rocket. I’m happy to let experienced NBA journalist Chris Bernucca explain why (short version: money) and declare a real-life winner, but in the world of fantasy hoops, Harden just got even better. No longer a sixth man and third banana, he’s the focal point. Minutes will increase from 31 last year to at least 35, while his production in the counting stats should rise accordingly.

Kevin Martin will join the Oklahoma City Thunder, so he’s thrilled. His clashes with former coach Kevin McHale were one reason (injuries were the other) for a disappointing 2011-12, now he’s a key part of a championship contender. While he may take a slight minutes hit if he slides into Harden’s vacated role, Kev-Mart destroying the second unit of weaker teams will be great for his rate stats.

Of the throw-ins, SG Jeremy Lamb loses the most value. As a Rocket, he was a sneaky late-round flyer because Martin was on the block, a rookie with a chance to start after the inevitable trade. With the Thunder, he becomes a long-term project who might see most of his minutes in garbage time.

Houston gets three spare parts, the biggest and best being Cole Aldrich, who should take over the backup C role. His arrival is not good news for Greg Smith or Donatas Motiejunas; the latter appears to need more time to adjust to this league anyway. Daequan Cook, kind of a third-stringer in OKC, can slide into Lamb’s role as backup SG and 3-point specialist, so the deal makes him more draftable in fantasy. Lazar Hayward goes from completely irrelevant as the 13th man for the Thunder to possible longshot in very deep leagues. The third-year SF is now competing for bench minutes in Houston with veteran Carlos Delfino and rookie Royce White. That’s preferable for him to being buried behind Kevin Durant and Perry Jones III.

The draft picks involved (reportedly two first-rounders and a second) make the deal more palatable for OKC in terms of both finances and talent. While fascinating, that stuff doesn’t affect us here in the fantasy department.

In other NBA news, a lot of players who were training camp filler got released. None was a major surprise, and only a few have a chance to catch on elsewhere. Banged-up guys who skipped Saturday practice include Kobe Bryant (foot), Wesley Matthews (knee bruise), Tyson Chandler (knee), Matt Barnes (ankle) and Austin Rivers (ankle). The usual list of injury question marks — like Andrew Bogut and Andrew Bynum — hasn’t changed, and you already know about the longer-term issues. The original 2-3 week projection for Amare Stoudemire to recover from a ruptured cyst in his knee may have been optimistic; beware.

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Five reasons to feel positive about the Oklahoma City Thunder

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(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS)

thunder small logoThe Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the league’s most talked-about teams last season, and it seemed that they were destined to meet with the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. It was what everybody wanted – the young, homegrown team from a small town taking on the superstars who decided to pal around and live on the beach.

But after OKC’s Game Five loss, the focus of the NBA has shifted to the league’s newest quickly constructed powerhouse, the Los Angeles Lakers. Other teams are looking more powerful as well, with the LA Clippers grabbing Lamar Odom, Denver getting Andre Igoudala, and San Antonio getting more time to work out their roster.

From a distance, it looks like the Thunder may disappoint this season. After all, the only real moves they made were losing veterans Derek Fisher and Nazr Mohammed while signing a late first-rounder in Perry Jones III and a well-known draft bust in Hasheem Thabeet.

However, if there’s one thing the Thunder know how to do, it’s to surprise you when it’s least expected. Here’s five reasons to feel positive about the team from OKC.

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