This trade shocked the entire league when it was announced.

"This is one of the craziest trades I've seen in my thirty-plus years in the business," commented Craig Sager, a well-known NBA reporter.

"Congratulations to the Rockets, they've acquired a team core," Lakers General Manager Kupchak tweeted.

"The Rockets pulled off a robbery," Mavericks head coach Carlisle described to reporters.

"Daryl Morey became famous overnight," Pat Riley commented.

…

It wasn't just the league that was shaken; fans on social media were also in an uproar.

"I thought the Magic's summer operations were suffocating enough, but I'm sorry, I underestimated the Thunder's GM, forgive my youth!"

"What exactly is the Thunder's GM doing? Doesn't Harden's contract have another year left?"

"Yes, even if they wanted to trade Harden, they wouldn't need to do it now, right? Harden is a restricted free agent when his contract expires next season!"

"Maybe Presti misread the situation~ ┑(￣Д￣)┍"

"Suffocating ridiculous moves, to be honest, I don't think I could do something so stupid if I were the Thunder's GM!"

"Remember the name Sam Presti, he has become famous overnight!"

"Complaints aside, as a seasoned basketball expert, I still have to tell you that this matter is not something Presti can decide."

"Yes, the Thunder's only purpose in making this trade is to avoid the luxury tax. If they give Harden a max contract, which would be 4 years and 60 million, they would have to pay the luxury tax next season."

"So if you have to blame someone, blame Thunder owner Clayton Bennett!"

"This is the helplessness of small-city teams, look at why LeBron left Cleveland in the first place! It wasn't just because of 'brotherhood basketball.'"

"Yes, look at the Nets' Prokhorov, he can throw together an All-Star lineup in a season? The luxury tax is nothing!"

"So do you know why those big stars are still willing to go to big cities after the information age? Because the owners there have the capital to throw money around, and willingness to spend money means success, and the players naturally have exposure, and then it's a virtuous cycle, the opposite is true for small cities."

"So why won't Dolan sell the Knicks no matter what, and the Buss family siblings are fighting tooth and nail for control of the Lakers, it's all about the money!"

"You're all right, but I still don't understand, isn't it just 4 million? And it's a 4-year contract, 1 million a year, the Thunder aren't willing to pay that much in luxury tax?"

"Buddy, that's 1 million! Not 100 dollars, don't make it sound so easy!"

"For us, 1 million is indeed a lot, but is it a lot for an NBA team? And buddy, I even have a hunch that the Thunder are desperately avoiding the luxury tax now, and maybe they will pay much more than this in the future!"

"Actually, I think this is not just a luxury tax issue, Harden is very good, but his ceiling is only an All-Star, I'll give you an example, would you offer Ginobili a max contract 10 years ago?"

"That's true, Harden is much worse than Westbrook and Durant."

"There's no point in us discussing this anymore, Daryl Morey's operations this summer have been too eye-catching, he used two poison pill contracts to secure Lin and Asik, and now he has Harden, since Yao Ming and McGrady left, they have finally found a new beginning."

"Just a quick question, do you think Tang will become the next Harden?"

"How is that possible! You... seem to have a point, the Spurs are also a team unwilling to pay the luxury tax, now with the examples of Lin and Asik, if a team throws a poison pill contract at them..."

"Popovich: Young man, take back your words quickly!"

"It's true, the reason the Spurs maintain their competitiveness is the sacrifice of the GDP in terms of salary, but the poison pill contract is not something they can control."

"RC Buford: We will match any offer for Tang."

"Glen Grunwald (Knicks GM): We will match any offer for Lin."

"Tonsils, sit down, it's not your turn to get inflamed!"

"Okay, okay, let's not expand this topic any further, let's focus on this season."

"I think the idea of a poison pill contract is great, a Heat fan left a message."

"I think it's great too, a Lakers fan left a message."

"Your idea is freaking genius! A Thunder fan left a message."

…

Amidst the heated discussions among fans, just two days later, on the first day of November, the regular season officially kicked off, and the 2012-2013 season was declared open.

The game between the Rockets and the Pistons started earlier.

The discussion forum blew up shortly after the game started.

Because James Harden's performance on the court slapped everyone in the face.

In his debut game for the Rockets, he efficiently scored 37 points, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists with 14 of 25 shots!

In 2012, such stats were definitely superstar-level!

By the end of the game, the home fans were completely crazy.

Harden had been underestimated by everyone!

Daryl Morey had found them not the next Ginobili, but the next Michael Jordan!

After the game, the already heated social media exploded completely.

"My face... hurts so much! James Harden can be so awesome!"

"Harden really gave the Thunder's management a resounding slap in the face at the speed of light, so loud that the whole world heard it!"

"Before, there were rumors that Harden and Durant were fighting for the ball, saying that he was unwilling to be a sixth man. At that time, I thought Harden was too ambitious, but now... Whoa! It smells so good!"

"I can imagine Bennett raging in the owner's office, and Presti standing there for a long time, not daring to say a word."

"Haha, this is showing off to the extreme."

"But this is just one game, let's look forward to Harden's subsequent performance!"

"By the way, has the game between the Thunder and the Spurs started? I've been waiting for almost 2 hours."

"Soon, because there is a championship ring ceremony today, it will definitely be earlier."

"I almost forgot about this, but speaking of which, the Thunder are a bit miserable now, they lost Harden and have to watch the Spurs hand out rings."

"Durant: What's wrong with you? Little brother!"

"*Gui Quan* warning!" (*Turtle Fist*)

"(￣_，￣)"

…

Later that evening, at the AT&T Center, the Spurs' season opener was about to begin. Their opponent tonight was the Thunder.

The league has always been an expert in shaping team rivalries. When scheduling the games during the offseason, they directly put the Spurs and Thunder together.

Now that the Thunder have lost Harden and their strength has declined, and it's also an opening game with a ring ceremony.

Not to mention that the game itself will become very intense, these are already enough to attract the attention of fans.