What If James Harden Was Never Traded To The Rockets?

What's up guys this is Mike and we're back with another

what

if now you guys have been asking for another

what

if video for a long time so today we're going to take a look at what if James Harden was

never

traded

to Houston Rockets now? I kind of put off doing the simulation for a while because I wasn't sure how much it was going to really change, but believe me, in this new MBA there are a lot of changes and just before I start I just want to say that all my other "what ifs" are below in the description, so if you like this, there's a lot more content waiting for you and other than that, I hope you enjoy the video before the Thunder blew a three-to-one lead to the Warriors in the Western Conference.

Finals, so Kevin Durant left for the Warriors in the 2016 offseason before we spent the entire summer of 2016 analyzing quotes from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and deciding to hate each other, we had the 2012 NBA Finals, a NBA championship series that tied the Warriors in the 2016 offseason. The current big three of the NBA, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, against the big three of the future of basketball. Yes, in the 2012 playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the best the West had to offer behind the young core of 23-year-old Kevin Durant, 23-year-old Russell Westbrook. James Harden, 22, reached the NBA Finals and there lost in five games against the veteran Miami Heat, but a message had been sent: the Thunder had demolished the Mavericks with dirt, destroyed the Lakers with Kobe and had taken down the Spurs with Tim Duncan.

They were the future of the NBA, they were a surefire NBA dynasty in the making, but somehow that didn't happen. Reaching the 2012 NBA Finals will go down as the greatest feat the OKC Big Three would ever accomplish. In the next four seasons, the Thunder did not win a championship, the head once seemed almost to start, in fact, they

never

made it to the NBA Finals again, as we all know why, because in the summer of 2012 the OKC Thunder offered James Harden a contract worth fifty-five point five million dollars, this figure was four point five million. dollars below the maximum and would allow the Thunder to avoid the luxury tax, but knowing his worth, Harden rejected the offer and told the Thunder that he wanted a maximum contract, so instead of paying a player who would become the best NBA shooting guard, yes.

The Thunder decided to make a strong trade with the Rockets in exchange for Kevin Martin Jeremy Lin two first round picks and a second round pick this trade will be remembered as one of the worst traits in NBA history it ruined the best young team in The NBA ruined a potential dynasty and gave away any chance of the Thunder winning a championship with Kevin Durant on the roster, but with all that said, what if we could go back? What if we could knock some sense into the Thunder front office and force them to do it? pay a lot, remember that last season the Thunder resigned and their Cantor and ended up paying the luxury tax despite their previous reservations, they had learned from their mistake, a mistake that cost them a potential dynasty and today we will see how much that mistake.

It cost them because we're going to take a look at one of the NBA's biggest questions: What if the Oklahoma City Thunder never

traded

James Harden? So our scenario takes us back to the summer of 2012 in our new MBA where the Thunder arrived. come to their senses and gave up James Harden to a max contract, this means the Thunder still have their core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka intact and means OKC is a clear contender for the NBA title, which takes us to the 2013 season in 2013. The Thunder win three more games with the addition of James Harden and the notable loss of Kevin Mark.

Remember that although Harden became a star in Houston, he will have a somewhat reduced role in OKC and, on the other hand, Kevin Martin did have a great season for the Thunder in 2013, which is why the Thunder only went three more games and with the loss by James Harden the Houston Rockets do not have a star who can carry the load and they do not perform at the same level, they lose five more games than in their original 2013 season and their future is bleak with the loss of a potential stop that takes us to the Playoffs of the 2013 NBA.

In the original playoffs, the Thunder faced the Rockets, but their sin no longer takes the eighth place, but the Utah Jazz sneaked in, but Oklahoma City quickly dispatched them in a sweep, so This change of opponents is actually very important for the 2013 Thunder because remember that Russell Westbrook originally tore his meniscus in the second game when Patrick Beverley undermined him, but this was a freak injury. he only got hurt because of the way Beverly hit him when he was in an awkward position, it wasn't going to happen no matter what just happened at that exact moment, so on stage, Russ never gets hurt and the Thunder takes their first round push in the second round against the Memphis Grizzlies Originally Memphis defeated the Thunder in five games, but now the Thunder have Russ and Harden playing, so with their new and improved roster, OKC dominates the Grizzlies winning in five games and preparing a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs Quick note, if you are new to this, I simulate these games on What if sports comm.

It's a site that allows me to edit historical teams and play them against other historical teams, so the Thunder made it to the 2013 Western Conference Finals and they're paired with the Spurs behind you and OKC easily wins the first game, but They are defeated by the Spurs in the second game in a historic game in which Tim Duncan finished with 35 points and 14 rebounds in an overtime victory that is now playing as a visitor against the Thunder. They regained their home field advantage with a win in game three, friend that's a close contest in game four. In game five, the Thunder again struggled to match this top-team first style of play as the Thunder fall by four points, but facing elimination, OKC is able to bounce back.

Come back and win Game 6, setting up a Game 7 showdown at home for a chance to make the NBA Finals, and OKC can actually beat San Antonio by six points in the deciding game, trailing 36 points from Durant and a triple-double from Russ. setting up a Finals matchup against Miami in game 1 and seeing the Miami Heat defend their home court with two straight wins setting up a must-win game for the Thunder in OKC, unfortunately no one told this to the Thunder as they lost game three. Despite a solid 27-point outing from the Harp and now down 300 with the threat of elimination knocking at their door, the Thunder finally come to play destroying the Heat by 33 points and heading back to Miami in game five, the Thunder takes advantage of their new energy and defeats the Heat. with a winning buzzer-beater from Russell Westbrook and game 6 is more of the same as OKC once again turns off the heat at home and comes back from three games down, but unfortunately for OKC their magical streak comes to an end, Miami Heat defeat to the Thunder in a Game 7 blowout again.

OKC's big three enter the summer without a ring, which brings us to the 2013 NBA offseason and, of course, the 2013 NBA draft. Not much has changed in the NBA landscape in terms of of records, but the James Harden trade already has a huge impact on the future of the NBA because in the original 2013 NBA Draft, the Thunder owned the 12th pick due to their trade with Houston, they originally used this selection to select Stephen Adams; However, since the trade never happened, Houston still has this pick and desperately needs a franchise star, they roll the dice on the most unpredictable prospect available to them and select Yanis as a dead combo, so Houston ends up with Yanis in place of Milwaukee, who instead ends up taking another promising youngster.

Player Dennis Schroder with their 15th pick, Stephen Adams, on the other hand, ends up going to the Boston Celtics with the 13th pick, as he was a higher-rated draft prospect than their original pick, Kelly Olynyk, and moved on. to free agency in the original offseason. Howard, fresh off an absolutely horrible experience with the Lakers, signed with the Houston Rockets to get away from the wrath of Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, the Rockets no longer have James Harden, so Dwight does not end up in Houston but signs with Dallas. The Mavericks partner him with a veteran team that desperately needs a start, a team with ground, so Houston, with the loss of the salaries and talents of James Harden and Dwight Howard, cannot allow another of its talented players to win and re-sign Kevin Martin instead of letting him leave for two free agents, there are several significant changes that lead us to a new NBA 2014.

In this new NBA, the most notable losers are Minnesota, which loses five games with the loss of Kevin Martin , who averaged nearly 20 points per game in 2014 and the Rockets, who lose a staggering 16 games without Harden and Dwight, originally the Rockets won 54 games and were the fourth seed in the West, but their new roster lacks power stellar and are forced to play in the intense minutes of Yanis, who are not prepared, to help his development. instead, they exit the playoffs on the positive side of the spectrum, the Dallas Mavericks win four additional games with Dwight Howard now manning the middle and the Oklahoma City Thunder pick up six wins with a star guard in Harden replacing questionable minutes originally. played by Jeremy Lamb and Derek Fisher, which brings us to the 2014 NBA Playoffs, now the original playoffs thunder like the true seed, but in this new NBA they are and how the Western Conference's top dogs easily dispatch the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the Western Conference and now find themselves playing the Dallas Mavericks in the second round instead of the Clippers.

The Thunder beat the Mavericks in five games and again the Thunder were able to avoid a costly injury because they remember Serge Ibaka in the original game six. tripped on Chris Paul and ended up hurting his left, ended up missing a few games and played the rest of the playoffs, but again it was a freak injury and the Thunder are now playing the Mavericks so it will never happen and with a completely healthy team. The Thunder take the field against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, this time with home field advantage and the first game goes down to the wire when Tony Parker makes a shot to cut the lead to one with just 11 seconds left from there.

Westbrook gets fouled and makes one of two and then Tim Duncan's shot is blocked by Kendrick Perkins and the Thunder hold on to win, but the Spurs rally and steal home-field advantage in game two behind Kauai's 27 points and the serious ones return to San Antonio. where this first one stays on a roll to win the third game by ten, now in a game that Russell Westbrook must win, he arrives at the scene scoring 30 points and finishing with six assists to bring the series back to OKC tied at two games each , although Team 5 finds an unsung hero in Patty Mills as Mills hits three huge three-pointers at the start of the fourth quarter to give them this first lead they would never relinquish and thus, facing elimination, the series returns once again to San Antonio and Russell Westbrook appears huge again. he finishes with 39 points and 12 rebounds and the Thunder wins by 10 setting up a great game 7 and in a game 7 full of pressure the game comes to a close with 33 seconds left and five up Russ misses a runner, the Spurs rebound the ball and Duncan makes a great bank shot to cut the lead to one with 25 seconds left.

At this point, the Thunder should be running out of time, but Kevin Durant finds an easy path to the basket, attempts an uncontested runner, and leaves the rim. giving the ball back to the Spurs with a chance to tie it, but instead of attempting a three-pointer, they attempt a quick two with Tim Duncan finishing his shot wide from there Russ gets fouled, makes one of two and the Thunder heads towards the NBA Finals again for the third consecutive season the NBA Finals that found the thunder faced this time against the Miami Heat, although the Thunder find themselves with home field advantage and win the first game after a great comeback in the fourth quarter, game two again shows how inconsistent this team can pull it off, though, and the Heat take home-field advantage with a 20-point win in game three.

Kevin Durant struggles to get going, but LeBron fights harder and the Thunder take a six-point comeback victory. LeBron produces a monster 40 points and 12 assists. for late game four rebounding performance, series returns to OKC tied at two at home, Thunder wins as their big three shine, raw scores twenty-seven tighten and Durant scores twenty-four apiece and Thunder only needs a victory to become NBA champions, but we are still playing against a teamfrom Miami very talented and in fact the Heat take care of business at home and put together a game seven, from there came the seventh and the Thunder were down by four in the fourth quarter, but then the OKC big three start to warm up.

Durant hits a jumper, Russ converts it into a monster dunk and Harden isolates him, steps back and hits a 3-pointer with a man right in his face with a minute left to take the Thunder's lead by three and have the ball in his hands. of Durant, who isolates and finds. space and makes an incredibly decisive jump on the next play Miami misses a three-pointer by Wade ends the game ends with several free throws from OKC which means that for the first time the Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions, but our story does not end with An Oklahoma City Indeed, life in the NBA moves on and the 2014 NBA Draft brings us only one significant change after missing the playoffs.

The Houston Rockets now pick 14th and select Yosef Newark as a talented young center who will fill the void Dwight left behind moving forward. In the offseason, the Rockets face several changes to their roster. In the original summer of 2014, the Rockets traded salaries to try and land Chris Bosh, however, they no longer feel they have a chance with him and instead the recent Jeremy Lin, who has flourished with the ball in his hands without tighten up, they also keep Omar Ashiq and match Chandler Parsons' restricted contract offer, as they need to keep us as much talent on their roster as possible, this means that the Rockets also do not sign Trevor Ariza, who instead returns to a team of Washington that had originally tried desperately to keep him and, to complete the offseason, the Thunder return as NBA champions, but they have a serious hole on their roster with the loss of Stephen Adams C.

The Knicks make it clear that they are cutting costs to remain active and in free agency and are willing to give up Tyson Chandler for Reggie Jackson, who still has his rookie contract and an expiring contract with Kendrick Perkins, which brings us to the 2015 NBA season and again we have some winners and some mistakes stuck among the losers we have the Dallas Mavericks who do not gain much production with Dwight instead of Tyson Chandler and end up losing six games with the loss of Chandler Parsons is not enough for the Pelicans they no longer have a decent player in a sheet and lose some games the c-bucs no longer have Yanis who started to bounce back this year and lost six games while Dennis Schroder struggles and speaking of Yanis he is starting to blossom for the Rockets this season yes the Rockets still lose six .

More games, but the future is starting to look brighter in Houston as for the winners, the Washington Wizards pick up three additional wins with Trevor Ariza on their roster and of course the OKC Thunder are doing much better. Yes, originally this season, Kevin Durant was injured. and that still happens because unlike those freak injuries, this happened in the regular season, so we have to assume it will still happen originally, the Thunder missed the playoffs because Russ couldn't carry them alone in the new NBA, however , Russ has become more difficult. Helping carry the load on Tyson Chandler provides an excellent season for the Thunder to earn 13 wins and claim the third playoff seed;

However, without Durant, the 2015 playoffs finally the Thunder, unable to make another championship-type run, can defeat the Trailblazers in the first round of the playoffs, but this time the Clippers do not drown the second round of the playoffs and, instead, they feed the Thunder again in six games. Golden State wins the NBA championship, but the 2016 season will certainly give the Thunder one more shot at a title in the 2015 offseason, the 2015 NBA draft brings us some absolutely huge changes that will definitely affect the future of the NBA. Now, in the tenth draft, the Bucks need a center since the previous one liked marijuana too much and that is why they steal Myles Turner. from the Pacers, giving them a potential franchise cornerstone and slipping down a bit, the New Orleans Pelicans find themselves out of the 2014 playoffs and are instead in 13th place.

Missing the playoffs turns out to be a blessing in disguise; however, as with the No. 13 pick, Devin Booker, yes. The Pelicans can draft Devin Booker, my favorite player and a future star, to pair with Anthony Davis in New Orleans Pelicans fans can now cry at the end of the 2015 offseason and how Kanter is never traded because Reggie Jackson is in New York. and not OKC, so this offseason the Portland Trail Blazers signed him to a max contract which takes us to the final season of this simulation and in our final season there have been several changes that drastically alter the standings, particularly the Pistons lose seven games without Reggie.

Jackson, the Rockets lose five games because they haven't toughened up yet or Dwight, the Bucs lose four games without Yanis and the Pacers lose three games without Myles Turner, on the other hand, the Mavericks win four games while Dwight has a bounce-back season. the Blazers win four more games with Enes Kanter under center and of course the OKC Thunder see a big change by bringing out Westbrook, toughening up Durant Ibaka and Chandler, the Thunder win 10 more games but still finished third in the Western Conference, so let's advance beyond the first two rounds of the playoffs and reach the Western Conference Finals again, the Thunder reached the final round of the West by defeating the San Antonio Spurs and again faced the Warriors and we all know what happens in the original 2016 playoffs that the Thunder took. a three to one lead over the Warriors the Warriors returned and Kevin Durant left OKC to join the team he had just defeated but this is the new NBA a new OKC Thunder team and this time history does not repeat itself the Thunder once again take a lead three to one in the series, but can now close out Game 5 thanks to a monstrous 40-point performance from none other than James Harden, setting up a new Finals showdown between the OKC Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Once again, the Thunder entered the NBA. Finals with home advantage and, despite LeBron's 27 points, they can maintain that advantage in the first game and win by 9 in the second. Russ scores 32 points and 11 assists, but LeBron misses 34 and Kevin Love scores a great goal. A performance of 26 points and 15 rebounds in the Cavs takes the second game that takes the series to Cleveland and there James Harden offers a show, finishing with 31 points in the third game, while Westbrook contributes and 13 assists and the Thunder wins big time and, surprisingly, the fourth game brings This time it shows us much of the scene, the ground and Russ bold score 29, finish with 20 and Kyrie Irving struggles as the Thunder take a significant three-to-one lead with a victory 8 points, but with a comfortable lead, the Thunder takes their foot off the accelerator. little and ends up losing Game 5 in a blowout as Kyrie makes up for his poor performance with a 42-point effort in the D win, but Game 6 still gives the Thunder another chance to clinch the series and they do and they flee.

With game six defeating the Heat by 15 points on the road behind a combined 73 points from their big three of Westbrook Durant and Harden, for the second time in three seasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves as NBA champions, giving us leads to the end. of one of the biggest questions in the NBA, since you can see that the option to trade James Harden cost the Thunder two possible NBA championships and now with two rings on their fingers and a loaded roster, there is no way that Kevin Durant ever leaves OKC so the Thunder are prepared to continue their dominance and thank you all for watching.

I hope you enjoyed this video it took me so long to make but it was worth it because I think it's amazing to see how much the NBA changes with one decision in this simulation if OKC kept James Harden they end up with two more rings which also means that LeBron loses an extra championship, there's no iconic chase block, we lose one of basketball's greatest moments and I can't forget to mention the Pelicans ending Devin Booker, that joke. of a franchise, helps another potential All-Star to pair up again with Anthony Davis, Pelicans fans, you can cry and other than that, if you are new to this channel, I hope you subscribe.

I do what happens if so. I look at the history of basketball. conspiracies and I follow the NBA all season, so if you love basketball, I think you will love this channel and to everyone who supports me, thank you very much. You know how much they mean to me. I want to say that. I hope you have a great time. day and what and if music