by Erick Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Unable to reach agreement on a contract extension with James Harden, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Saturday one of their key players from last year’s NBA Finals team.

The Thunder sent Harden to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and two first-round picks and a second-rounder.

The Rockets will also receive center Cole Adrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward.

Harden averaged 16.8 points and 4.1 rebounds last season and was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. He then was a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in London.

Martin, 29, averaged 17.1 points in 40 games last season and has been a scorer throughout his nine-year career.

Lamb was a first-round pick in June after a two-year career at Connecticut.

The Thunder had until Wednesday to sign Harden to a contract extension beyond this season or likely lose him in free agency. Oklahoma City has already locked up Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to maximum contracts and have signed Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins to big deals.

“We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. “We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin’s caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team.

“We appreciate James, Cole, Daequan and Lazar’s contributions to the Thunder organization and this community and wish them the best in the future.”

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