James Harden’s trade demand was an impossible situation for the Houston Rockets. Their long-time star wanted out, and there was really no way for them to get anything close to equal value in return.
After weeks of drama and speculation, the Rockets finally accepted a deal that included four other teams. They sent Harden to the Nets in a return that netted them Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, and four first-round picks.
At the time, it was viewed as a pretty underwhelming package for a guy like Harden, especially with rumors surfacing that the 76ers were willing to offer more.
Nevertheless, the world moved on, and the Rockets quickly realized just how important Harden was to their success.
Fast forward a few months, and Houston — now sitting 14th in the West — decides to make some more moves, this time involving the newly-arrived Victor Oladipo. On Thursday’s trade deadline, they end up trading him to Miami for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and a 2022 pick swap.
On the bright side, it does help Houston further its rebuild project. Unfortunately, though, when fans realized that the Rockets essentially gave up Harden for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, and a bunch of late first-round picks, they became the butt of jokes on social media.
After the Victor Oladipo trade, here's how the Rockets' return from the James Harden trade currently looks. pic.twitter.com/ESREuuzXQu
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) March 25, 2021
Will go down as one of the worst trades of all time… will set the rockets back for a decade at least, handled so embarrassingly bad by stone… as soon as they flipped levert and Allen I knew they had made a bad situation much much worse
— TKOReezie (@TKOReezie) March 25, 2021
So the @HoustonRockets basically got nothing in return for James Harden huh?! SMH
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) March 25, 2021
The Rockets traded James Harden and essentially got no players in return.
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) March 25, 2021
Rockets fans realizing they were robbed in the James Harden trade: pic.twitter.com/ezvFzmTqI7
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) March 25, 2021
The Rockets have to be the dumbest organization in NBA history for botching that Harden and now Oladipo trade
— Julius Alexander (@themindofjulius) March 25, 2021
The three best players (other than Harden) in the James Harden trade were Victor Oladipo, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.
Somehow, the Rockets don’t have any of those 4 players.
The Rockets turned James Harden into a bunch of picks and Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynk.
Yikes.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) March 25, 2021
The Rockets really went from James Harden to Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley
— Certified Bulls Enthusiast (@delusionalbulls) March 25, 2021
Houston Rockets are trash. They could've got Jarrett Allen and Levert for Harden. Instead they took oladipo. Oladipo just get traded for Avery Bradley and olynyk. Lol. They bums
— KG (@kgthepoet) March 25, 2021
Honestly, the Rockets should be feeling pretty bad about how badly they botched the Harden trade. As one of the best players in the league, it’s quite obvious they could have gotten more for him, even in spite of their damaged leverage.
Of course, there’s nothing they (or anyone) can do about it now. The best they can hope for is that they draft well with their stockpile of non-lottery picks.
No matter which way you look at it, they’ve got a long road ahead of them…
