Oklahoma City Thunder: Re-Examining The Harden And Jackson Trades

It’s time to re-examine the trades of James Harden and Reggie Jackson for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Over the past few seasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder have had to make tough decisions regarding trading some key pieces of their franchise.

Just before the deadline last year, the Thunder decided to trade up-and-coming point guard Reggie Jackson in a three-team deal. This was the second time that the front office had decided to make a bold move in trading away a potential star guard within three years.

The James Harden trade was strictly a financial decision for the Thunder, and as controversial as it was at the time, general manager Sam Presti had to make a difficult decision to trade a player he knew he would not be able to retain in order to build for the future.

Presti was stuck between a rock and a hard place with the whole situation. Harden was going to be a free agent, and the Thunder weren’t willing to go as far into the luxury tax as would have been necessary to keep Harden on the team. Simply put, it was better to get something for Harden rather than just letting him walk down the road.

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The aftermath of the Harden trade has entirely worked out now, and at the moment the only players remaining on the roster from the deal are Mitch McGary and Steven Adams — both drafted using picks acquired from the deal.

Although both players are still developing, the deal was clearly a one-sided win for the Houston Rockets. Harden has transformed to an annual MVP candidate, and the Thunder only have role players to show for it.

The best player that the Thunder acquired in the deal was Kevin Martin, who ended up signing a multi-year deal with Minnesota via a sign-and-trade deal. OKC received Luke Ridnour, who they cut shortly after.

The Thunder were also put in a tough position with Jackson. When given the opportunity to have a starting role for the team when Russell Westbrook went down with injury, he performed well and wanted to become a permanent member of the starting lineup.

Jackson made it public information that he wanted a bigger role in OKC, which is something the Thunder weren’t able to give him. After Jackson’s agent requested a trade near the deadline, Presti’s hands were tied into making another deal for a potential All-Star.

With the trade deadline just a little over a month away, the first anniversary of the Jackson trade is nearing. Has the Jackson trade worked out for the Thunder better than the Harden deal?

Jackson has blossomed into an All-Star level point guard in Detroit, and the Pistons are in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference. The players the Thunder acquired in the deal: D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter, who are all still on the roster.

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Augustin never really found his niche for the Thunder, which has resulted in his role being taken over by Cameron Payne. While Augustin has proven he is a quality NBA point guard in the past, this may just be a situation where the player simply doesn’t fit on the roster.

Singler performed well enough last season to earn a five-year, $25 million extension. That contract has not worked out favorably for the Thunder, as Singler has struggled this year and is trying to work his way back into the rotation.

However, Kanter has been a dynamite player for the Thunder in every role he has been given since coming over from Utah. Last season, Kanter was given starter’s minutes and averaged a double-double with 18.7 points and 11 rebounds per game on 56.6 percent shooting.

This season, Kanter has been equally fantastic in limited minutes, scoring 11.6 points and grabbing 7.8 rebounds in just over 20 minutes a night. The main thing limiting Kanter’s productivity is the minutes he is getting, or rather the lack of them.

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Due to Kanter’s struggles on the defensive end of the floor, head coach Billy Donovan elects to give Adams and Nick Collison some of the minutes Kanter was getting last season. The Thunder have a bit of a stack-up of talent with their big man rotation, which limits the minutes each of its members can get.

So far, it appears that the Reggie Jackson trade is working out better than the Harden deal. The aftermath of the trade has yet to entirely work itself out, but the return on the Thunder’s investment has much higher value moving forward.