It’s been less than six months since Sam Presti sent Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and draft picks.
Coming just days after dealing Paul George to the Clippers, the Westbrook trade was seen as the effective dismantling of the Oklahoma City Thunder as a team that was capable of competing for an NBA Championship.
But just days before the start of a new year, the Thunder are 16-15, holding on to the seventh spot in the Western Conference standings. Meanwhile, rumors are starting to swirl that Westbrook’s time with the Rockets might be shorter than anticipated.
As noted by Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, trading Chris Paul for Westbrook hasn’t produced the upgrade at point guard that Daryl Morey had hoped. Westbrook and James Harden aren’t the dynamic duo that Houston wanted, and instead, Houston is “better when James Harden plays without Westbrook than when Harden plays with Westbrook. Westbrook-led lineups have struggled when Harden sits.”
That dynamic could be what’s at the crux of a report from The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo, where he indicted in the latest episode of his podcast, that the Rockets could be open to trading Russell Westbrook.
“I think Westbrook is available. We can talk about semantics. Of course, Daryl Morey would trade anyone if he thought it made his team better. Of course, he would trade Westbrook if he could get off of that long-term money, if he thought the assets, the sum of the parts was better than having somebody that’s considered a top-10 player.”
“Is Daryl Morey actively calling people, saying, “Hey, I’ve got to dump Westbrook?” Well, of course, he wouldn’t do it that way. But there are people who believe Westbrook is available and that Daryl knows, “I’ve got to figure something out here.”
Jose Martinez of Complex points out that the Rockets are in a similar situation to the one they were in with Chris Paul, stating the “long-term max contract money attached to Westbrook is similar to the problem that they faced with Paul. However, CP3 has three years remaining on his current deal while Westbrook has four.”
Russillo did acknowledge that there will likely be some pushback on his report, but said, “I’m sure people will deny this after they hear it on the podcast. I don’t care”.