Who Won the Harden Trade?

James Harden's landing in Houston could not have gone any better for the twenty-three year old guard. Averaging slightly over 30 ppg after a week of action is more than anyone saw from the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. Working for the first time outside of the colossal shadows of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Harden showed the league what he has been hiding up his sleeve (and in all likelihood, under his beard). A 37 point double-double followed by a game in which he became only the fourth player ever to record 45 points on fewer than 20 attempted field goals put a sour taste in the mouth of every fan in Oklahoma. Harden even managed to make Houston fans forget about their other marquis offseason signing (Hardensanity shirts available for pre-order soon). On the other hand, Kevin Martin is managing to put up a Hardenesque 20 ppg coming off the bench. He may be the less complete player in the trade, but he is shooting over 50% from the floor and an astronomical 62% from long range. The Thunder are armed with two of the best scorers in the league and while James Harden is an astonishingly complete player for his age, a lights out shooter is just more useful to the reigning Western Conference champs. Ultimately, it is clear that both teams did shockingly well in this trade, receiving exactly what they needed. The Rockets got a complete, dynamic guard who is exciting enough, and frankly bizarre enough to remind people that the Texans aren't the only team in Houston and the Thunder got a complementary piece in a spot-up shooter who won't fade in the finals (I'm talking to you, Harden). As much as we would like to declare a winner of this blockbuster trade, there just isn't one.

-MA