James Harden has become one of the NBA's best players since his trade to the Houston Rockets, but wasn't a clear-cut win at the time for Daryl Morey.

Some believed Harden would not be able to extend his production to superstar minutes when he was 6th Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"The Harden trade was about 60-40 in favor of our side at the time," said Morey. "Even we had doubts. You need to prepare yourself to be ready for those opportunities when they come. It's not like anyone's giving away these good players. You have to maneuver your way into them....The notion that people in analytics don't think talent wins is ludicrous."