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The Oklahoma City Thunder's trade of guard James Harden to the Houston Rockets sent shockwaves through the NBA this weekend, and on Sunday, Chicago Bulls center Nazr Mohammed gave his opinion of the trade. Mohammed spent the last season and a half as a member of the Thunder, giving him a unique viewpoint on the move.
"James is a friend of mine, so it's sad to see him not in Oklahoma City. But this is a business. People want to talk about loyalty and franchises having loyalty to players and players having loyalty to franchises. It doesn't exist. I know James will miss it. And they're going to miss James."
(via Chicago Tribune)
Chicago is the eighth team Mohammed has played for in his career, which also gives him an intimate idea of the push-pull between business and loyalty in the NBA. Last year with the Thunder, Mohammed averaged 2.7 points per game in 63 games.
Harden was traded late Saturday night to the Rockets along with Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, two first round picks and a second round pick. The Thunder tried to sign Harden to a long term extension, but the two sides could not agree to a deal. Harden is expected to soon sign a five-year, $80 million extension with the Rockets.