Revisiting 2012's blockbuster NBA trades: James Harden and Dwight Howard

James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets. (Getty Images)

It’s not everyday that you see a blockbuster trade in the NBA, especially after the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).

Last year saw two blockbuster trades in James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder to Houston Rockets) and Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic to Los Angeles Lakers) switching teams. So let’s take a look at how it fared for everybody involved:

The Beard Trade

Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and Toronto 2013 1st round pick (Steven Adams)

Houston Rockets: James Harden, Cole Aldridge, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward

The James Harden trade was probably the best example of how hard it is to stay within the NBA salary cap.

Oklahoma City Thunder, in their bid to stay under the tax line, traded the then-NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Harden, to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb (picked 12th in the 2012 NBA Draft) and a 2013 first round Toronto Raptors pick (who turned out to be Kiwi Steven Adams, 12th overall).

As soon as the trade was made public, The OKC boardroom was heavily criticised for making such a horrible decision and trading a player, who was a key to their Finals run the past season. Funnily enough, there were some front office guys who thought the trade might make the Thunder better.

Fast forward a year, and Harden is probably the best shooting guard in the NBA and the Rockets (after attaining Howard this off-season) look in pristine condition to make a strong playoff run.

On the other side, the Thunder have already lost Kevin Martin (who had a sub-par season) to the Minnesota Timberwolves this off-season, and selected youngster Adams (who still looks pretty raw) with their 12th pick.

The only positive is Lamb, who looked a man among boys in the Orlando Summer League, which the Thunder won comfortably, remaining unbeaten. But he still is a season or two away from realising his full potential.

Clearly, the Rockets won the trade. Who could have thought that we would be favouring the Rockets – over the Thunder – to make it to the 2014 NBA Finals?

A hat-tip to the Daryl Morey and the Rockets. For after years of mediocrity, they decided to tank and then, in a blink of a eye, they got the best two players at their respective positions.