Thunder Trades Harden To Rockets - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

The Oklahoma City Thunder has traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets.

The deal will send Harden, Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward and Daequan Cook for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two future first-round draft picks and one future second round pick.

Martin is the headline acquisition in this deal for OKC. The eight-year veteran has a scoring average of 18.4 points per game and an impressive 38 percent mark from three-point range in his career. Martin is in the final season of a five-year contract and will earn a little under $12.5 million this year.

Lamb is a first-round pick from UConn, where he averaged 17.7 points per game last season and won a National Championship in 2011. Lamb is an athletic wingman that should instantly provide OKC with exciting plays and a versatile offensive and defensive attack.

10/27/2012 Related Story: Decision Time For Thunder, Harden

Thunder GM Sam Presti issued the following statement regarding the trade:

"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."