Four days after news leaked that Russell Westbrook wants to be traded out of Houston, few teams are lining up to acquire the former MVP.
The Hornets were the first reported suitor, viewing a Westbrook trade as a way to skip a few steps in the rebuilding process and bring a huge star to Charlotte. The Knicks are also thinking about getting involved, but it’s one of many moves that are under consideration. The Clippers have been mentioned as well, but Westbrook might be an awkward fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
There are a lot of factors that make Westbrook a risky investment. One is his age — 32 with seven surgical procedures in his 12 NBA seasons. Another is his poor outside shooting — 25.8% from beyond the arc last season and 24.2% in the playoffs — in a league where three-pointers are more important than ever. But the biggest impediment to a deal is probably his contract. Westbrook is owed approximately $132MM over the next three years, including $47MM during the 2022/23 season.
There are concerns about how effective Westbrook will still be by then. His success has always been built around athleticism and explosiveness, and he doesn’t have the mid-range game to compensate as he ages like Thunder guard Chris Paul, who may also be an option for the Knicks and Clippers.
There’s also the question of what the Rockets will want in return. There have been conflicting reports this week about James Harden‘s happiness and level of commitment to Houston. New general manager Rafael Stone can’t afford to give Westbrook away without enough compensation to keep the Rockets in playoff contention.
We want to get your opinion. Which team do you see as the best fit for Westbrook at this stage of his career? Please leave your answer in the comments section.
Clippers
Farbod Esnaashari
@Farbod_E
A source is telling me that the Nets have engaged in talks with the Rockets. James Harden for a variation of: Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Taurean Prince, and Jarrett Allen.
Nothing finalized, but Harden to Nets seems like real possibility. If finalized, announced on Nov 22.
Lol if Nets get tgat trade a warrant wipl be issued for grand larceny.
I can see Sean Marks discussing this trade with the Rockets, but I’m sure the call ended pretty quickly.
Why not? Surely KD would love to play again with Russ.
According to fans, Rockets want a good player and a First in return
IMO
Rockets should not ask the equal value in return
Clippers should make an offer by sending 4 players to Rockets
Morris one year deal
Beverley
Zubac
McGruder
“According to fans”
you are bad at this.
He fits on a lot of East teams, not many West ones, for some reason.
The West is stacked with good PGs or great #1 options. The teams that could use him in the West (Clips), don’t have the assets
At this point it’s about fit, not talent level. Nearly everyone has the assets, esp the Clips. How high are you valueing him?— his PER is slipping, he has to do it his way and everyone else will too, to be “accountable “. Other teams have their own plans they want to be in effect. The payoff isn’t there with RW as PG.
RW was spectacular as an inside player and Morey built around that. But he will oppose that role. He may fritz out if losing also.
Definitely the Kings. It’s painfully obvious…if you ask me
In a normal scenario I see him landing on the Pacers or some middle level team like Magic, or Pistons. Nothing spectacular.
But the revenue dip and that contract are going to be tough to mesh.
Almost :straight up for Griffin”
Whoever trades for him will be disappointed. 32 years old and 7 surgeries. Lots of miles on his legs.
Westbrook doesn’t want to win.
He wants to score.
Send him to Charlotte and let him play 1 on 5 there.
Odd that he has been in the playoffs 10 out of 12 years in the NBA for someone that doesn’t want to win.
Getting in the playoffs is not much of a measuring stick in the NBA. Even in the West. He was on a team with Hardin and Durant and had good team success. When else?
How about after Durant skipped and he had to carry the team on his back and won the league MVP? But people put him down for just stat stuffing then, so the guy can’t win with some people.
I like it when people say he “steals” rebounds.
He’s definitely a winner and competitor, but also an old school breed alpha dog. No different than Dame or Jimmy. Can’t fault that mindset.
Ugh. No. I so don’t want him in Charlotte.
Positive things:
Westbrook is the hardest player to guard because of his explosive ability.
He can attack at any time and from anywhere with his speed and athleticism. He can get through any big man or small man at any time from anywhere.
Negatives
1) that boat anchor contract
2) past his prime, likely declining performance here out
3) me first attitude…no team in Russ
4) uncontrollable tempter….so many technical fouls over past decade
5) not a good 3 point shooter
6) injury history
Positives:
If you pair him with amy James Harden in 2k both players get a skills boost
The me first attitude is overblown. He leads the NBA in assists the past 6 years. He was unhappy in Houston because there wasn’t enough accountability with the team. That hardly seems like a guy who is all about himself
If I was a Rocket player, I’m not sure I would be able to stand Westbrook lecturing me on accountability. The guy was going out of control and did not discipline himself to to paint attacks. Team got rid of Capella for what?
Of course there’s little evidence he asked for these assignments. If he moves back to PG and doesn’t get locked up again, he should be okay for his contract. But the team would have to drop what they’re doing and do it his way. If you have Harden already, no can do.
Same as everyone predicted. But Rocket fans were saying last year, “But they were childhood friends!”. smh
That’s because in OKC he had the ball in his hands 95% of the time. When you lead the league in assists and in spite of it no one else in your team seems to be doing any significant contribution, I’d say that’s not good for the team.
If you offer Al Horford as a centerpiece for Westbrook, Rockets would hang up the phone entirely.
Yikes…
Chris Paul 35 yrs old. 2020 stats
31.5 mins, 17.6 pts, 6.7 ast, 5 reb, 1.6 stl, 2.3 Tov
And he was an all star. And they talk about him like he had big yr. He’s a team player. And his team helped him have a nice yr. He was leader of Thunder and took them as far as he could.
Russell Westbrook 32 yrs old. 2020 stats
36 mins, 27.2 pts, 7 ast, 8 reb, 1.6 stl, 4.5 Tov
Yet they talk about Westbrook like he had a down yr. He catered to Harden all yr. And his contract at 32 yrs old. Is somehow worse than Paul’s who is 35. Chris strength is running a team. Russ strength is scoring and highlights. Both play same position yet one has much better stats. As far as Knicks are concerned. Why would we want a 35 yr old over a 32 yr old. Russ contract is over at 35. He fits NY timeline much better. We can afford to pay him three yrs. While we build a playoff contender. I mean there is no comparison here. Westbrook can own the Garden. He might even have another triple double yr. Why wouldn’t we want that. Especially if it only cost a pick and expiring contracts. Portis and Randle are bigs that can help Rockets. Plus it’s only one yr contracts. DSJ can at least be a backup PG. Then there is a future #1 pick. Thibs is looking to make playoffs sooner than later. So Westbrook can help. With signing Woods and drafting Okoro. No one is expecting more than 8th seed. And we are still youngest team in NBA. It’s really a dumb argument when they try and make a case for Paul. And same writers make a case against Russ. Unbelievable to me.
Imagine you remove RW from Houston last year. Do you think they would have made much worse?
Yep!!!
Three team deal
Sixers: Paul George
Clippers: Russell Westbrook, Jason Richardson and 2 firsts (one from each team)
Rockets: Al Horford, Pat Beverly and Lou Williams
Sixers get a Butler replacement in PG and lose a bunch of salary off their books.
Clippers add a point guard and add some first rounders
Rockets get a bunch of decent pieces to be a somewhat contender
Isn’t Jason Richardson like 50?
Josh or whatever his name is. Jason was the man
Oh yeah. I wasn’t trying to be a smart-aleck that time. I legitimately thought you were talking about Jason.
Plus the Rockets are ineligible to trade any first round picks until 2027 due to the Stepien Rule. And they can’t trade 2027 for a month or two because picks are only tradable 7 years into the future.
I think the best place for Westbrook would be a place that I have yet to see mentioned, the Chicago Bulls. They are basically in the same position as the Knicks, a big market that has lost forever and doesn’t have a star presence. But the Bulls have a much better core than the Knicks in my opinion. The Knicks might get better more quickly if their “pie in the sky” free agency plan that they try every year eventually works, but it hasn’t thus far. The Bulls could be a contender in the East with Westbrook.
Bulls get
Russell Westbrook
Danuel House
Rockets get
Otto Porter (assuming he opts in)
Thaddeus Young
Cristiano Felicio
2021 lottery protected 1st
For the Bulls, it gets them a star and a probable return to the playoffs after a long layoff. For the Rockets, it’s mostly a salary dump but they get some good players on shorter term deals and a likely mid 1st round pick once the Bulls make the playoffs. Plus, Porter (and Felicio to a lesser extent) could be highly desirable as an expiring deal at the deadline. The Rockets could end up with multiple first in the scenario.
Good idea, I rate it.
Plus Thad Young and Otto Porter as on the court fits would work with that style of 3 and D.
You’d probably have to have Harden at the 1, Eric Gordon or Austin Rivers as the other guard but then Porter Covington Tucker or Young rounding out the line up, knowing you have 2 really good role players
I was operating under the assumption that if Westbrook gets moved, Harden’s trade request wouldn’t be far behind and the full teardown would begin.
But yeah, I could see them staying in the playoffs if Harden wasn’t traded. Maybe not as a 4, but definitely 5-8.
And I didn’t even consider the reunion with Billy Donovan as part of the deal. All signs point to Chicago being the perfect landing spot for Russ.
The HORNETS ……… a case can be made to continue with development e.g. Graham, Bridges, Washington, Rozier, etc.
But the problem is, the rest of the EAST isn’t going away anytime soon …….. besides the EAST playoffs teams, the WIZARDS, BULLS & HAWKS are expected to improve.
The HORNETS need a shake-up, even if it’s for the remaining sub-prime years of Russ.
That’s not a shake up. That’s intentionally blowing a crater sized hole in the side of your boat and then inexplicably hoping it doesn’t sink.
Don’t want Russ. Don’t want the contract. Don’t care about scraping to get an 8th seed. Just fine watching my Hornets lose for another year or two as a team because they’re growing into something.
Considering it has been 16 seasons and they have been to the playoffs 3 times and never made it out of the first round, I would think even an 8 seed would look good to a Hornets fan. I refuse to count the time before 2004 because that was the Pelicans franchise, not this Hornets franchise. At what point are you going to realize that what they are doing is not working?
That growing into something is nice and all, but most non-playoff East teams has those as well – I’d say the HAWKS, BULLS, WIZARDS, heck even the CAVS have much shinier young pieces in development.
Getting Russ will likely get them in the playoffs, inject some life into that morbid fanbase.
If I were a GM, I would not touch him with av10 foot pole as he is very pricey and on the downside of his career. I would like to see the Lakers get him, so they can mortgage more of their future away.
The best fit would be a potential contender that could use an upgrade at PG and can accommodate one that’s ball dominant and without a 3 pt shot. I can’t think of any. Although if you lower the bar for who’s a potential contender, maybe Orlando, Phoenix or San Antonio if they decide not to rebuild. I think he’ll remain with the Rockets.
Knicks make the most sense. Russ wants to be the #1 option and the Knicks are always starsearching. Plus Thibodeau seems to love athletic, do it yourself guards (see: Derrick Rose). If Houston would take Randle + Knox or Randle + #8, I think that might get it done.
For the Clippers, if Paul George is a problem, deal him. I think Kawhi could tolerate RW as easily as PG13 (I am suspicious of that friendship claim). PG13 has about 2/$73 left; he plays Kawhi’s position but they wanould rather a strong PG; see if they will swap.
Kawhi likes a quick attack. And the team will be like the old + Kawhi +RW, less like the old vs the new barging in.
Houston will not get what they gave for him. Demanding that will block conversations.
There is no best fit for Russ. Maybe a blacktop court somewhere that he can jack up all those missed shots and no one cares because his teammates are a FT landscaper and IT professional just playing for fun on a Saturday, and there are no fans to have to watch it.
Lol
It’s funny how great he was in OKC when he averaged a triple-double in three consecutive seasons. But when he actually played the best basketball of his entire career in the 34 games before the stoppage last March, now somehow only because he’s wearing a Rockets uniform everyone thinks he’s terrible despite his playing at an MVP-level between December and March.
Everyone seems to ignore the fact that he was recovering from covid once the restart began, and then suffered a quad injury right before the start of the playoffs, and still continued to play through the injury once he came back 2 1/2 weeks later. Unbelievable.
People seem to blindly trash Westbrook here…I would not take many of the comments seriously.
And I agree, Westbrook and the Rockets had some amazing games before the stoppage. There were times when they looked unstoppable. All that said, there were also games where the weaknesses of small ball were on full display. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
At their best they could have beat anyone in the West, sure, but it’s very hard to maintain that style of play, especially when you are up against the dominant Western bigs. All success requires a bit of luck, but D’antoni’s system left much less room for error.
And so instead of remembering Westbrook’s success, it’s height now many months ago, people focus on the admittedly disappointing season finish, when in reality with more fortunate seeding they would have easily made the conference finals.
You don’t have to convince me. I’m a Russ fan. I’ll tell you this. If somehow you can get PG for Russ. That would be great for Houston. George is best player you could possibly get. But I doubt it. I still see Harris and Sixers as best deal for Rockets. Westbrook still has value. But considering he wants out. Rockets are not in best position.
I like the Russ for Harris deal, Russ with embid would be exciting to watch
No matter how many times I clear this up , a week later I am once again confused by the whole Hornets-Bobcats-Pelicans timeline.
The Hornets 1.0 were an expansion team in 1988.
The Hornets 1.0 moved to New Orleans in 2001.
The Bobcats were an expansion team in 2004.
The Hornets became the Pelicans in 2013.
The Bobcats became the Hornets 2.0 in 2014.
The NBA considers the 1988-2001 Hornets 1.0 part of the Bobcats/Hornets 2.0 combined history and they consider the New Orleans/OKC Hornets and Pelicans as being a franchise that began in 2002 even though they just happened to have all the players and contracts from the 2001 Charlotte Hornets as part of the team.
It is so unbelievably stupid.
The Rockets would probably be SPECTACULARLY THRILLED if they could get Frank N. and pick #27 from the Knicks for Westbrook and be off the hook for the 47 MILLION BUCKS they would have to pay him in 2023.
He’s barely even good now. A strong bench player.
Brick will be a Knick or Hornet most likely. It’s not that Brick sucks, his contract deflates his value immensely. If he was making baby max 27M, youd get multiple 1sts for him and a young player. But hes making 41M. That’s the reality of the supermax era, devaluation of talent based on cap constraints. I only see some expiring deals and a protected pick going back if theres even a pick involved.
If Houston wants a complete rebuild, I’d love to see a trade with Minnesota. James Johnson + Evan Turner + Michael Beasley + #1 pick in draft for Westbrook + PJ Tucker + Eric Gordon. If Houston wants to trade Westbrook but keep it going, the best trade I see is with the Knicks. Westbrook for Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle. Mitchell Robinson replaces Capela. I think if Houston wants to win next year they are going to need to rebuild their center/frontcourt positions in a Westbrook trade.
Turner isnt on the roster. Money does not work at All. that’s like 60M+ from the Rockets.
I feel like there is a way to make the money work. Even tho I’m not positive about all the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. Yes, Houston is sending 60 million but Johnson is 15 mil, #1 pick is 10 mil, Malik Beasley deal would need to be about 20 mil…that’s 45 mil so we’re in the ballpark. They could offer Turner a 1 year deal worth 15 million to get him to agree to go. Or a few of Minny’s lower paid players might be able to match the difference. Not sure what the exact total salary that would be needed to create the match. But wouldn’t Westbrook be great with Towns?
Or simplify the deal. Like Westbrook + Tucker (40 mil) for Johnson, #1 pick and Juancho Hernangomez on an over paid but short signing say 3 years 30 million. That would have Minny sending out 35 mil and Houston sending 40 mil. Right now contract statuses are changing because it’s the offseason. But I feel like there’s ways to make this trade work.
I think a sleeper team is Sacramento.
Barnes
Joseph
Bjelcia
2 future protected 1-5 picks
Cap wise it would work.
Joseph
Harden
Barnes
Tucker
Possibly Bertans?
Still not good enough to beat Lakers or GSW though.
Realistically there are only a few teams he could go to. Plus he has to want to go there. To make it a better trade for Rockets. I say best place and deal is Philly. Especially if they are giving up Harris. I’ve been saying this since both lost in Bubble. Clippers are interesting. But I don’t see Rockets getting value. Sixers, Knicks, Hornets are best deals out there. Trades can happen tmrw. So picks can be traded, up front anyway. Draft is Wednesday.