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You’ve heard it elsewhere but hear it again here, Kevin Martin is now on the Oklahoma City Thunder and James Harden and his beard are now with the Houston Rockets. Also in the trade, Jeremy Lamb goes to OKC and Cole Aldrich plus other guys head over to Houston. Owners (or prospective owners) of Harden are the biggest winners, as he now has a starting job and should easily see 35 MPG. I projected him at .484 fg/.845 ft/1.4 3pt/19.8 pts/4.6 rbd/4.4 ast/1.2 stl/0.2 blk/2.4 tov because I was expecting an increase in playing time anyway, but you could probably bump those a little more if you want.

I had concerns with Kevin Martin because his numbers have been in decline over recent years and he is a bit of an injury risk. While the body hardiness doesn’t change, I think we can expect a bit of a bounce. He gets a new environment surrounded by great talent, plus a coach he doesn’t (yet) hate. Unfortunately, Lamb also goes with him, and that is not good news. He remains second fiddle to Martin while also being on a talent rich team with no expectation of increased playing time (as he may have gotten in Houston if they shipped Martin mid-season). He’s still a late round gamble, but now your hand is a Jack and a 2 instead of a 9 and a 2 (I would have used a Craps reference, but no one really knows how that game works or if it even really exists).

I mentioned Aldrich because he is going to kill the value for rookie Donatas Motiejunas. If anyone had their eye on DonMot in deeper leagues, you can probably pass, although keepers and especially dynasty leagues should hold on. Tomorrow is only a day away (and 2013-2014 is about 365 days away).