With longtime Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey headed to Philadelphia, it’s natural to consider trade possibilities involving his former team.
On Friday, ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jalen Rose got in on the action. His latest suggestion, however, might appear to be too good to be true, from a Houston perspective. Here’s what he said:
If I’m Daryl Morey, I tried to find a way to parlay Joel Embiid for Russell Westbrook and/or P.J. Tucker. In Houston, they’re going to have to play more traditionally, so therefore you have James [Harden] with the ball on the perimeter, and you have Embiid as his big man. In the Eastern Conference, you have two guys in Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook that no one is ever going to stop from getting to the basket.
Both those guys have found ways to not be able to shoot jump shots and still basically flirt with triple-doubles, and Russell’s been an MVP of the league. You say ‘Well, that’s not Morey-ball.’ Morey-ball is actually also getting layups and dunks, and getting to the free-throw line. Those two guys do that, too.
For starters, let’s take the “or” out of Rose’s statement. Before even considering the basketball merits, Embiid will make nearly $30 million next season, whereas Tucker isn’t even at $8 million. With both the Sixers and Rockets above the league’s projected salary cap, each team has to send out close to as much money in trades as it takes in.
For the Rockets to take in Embiid, Westbrook’s salary (~$41 million) is much closer to a financial match.
But then there’s the basketball side. At just 26 years old, Embiid is already a three-time NBA All-Star. For his career, he averages 23.9 points (48.0% FG), 11.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game.
Westbrook, of course, is a nine-time All-Star and former MVP who averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists this past season. In Morey’s analytics-driven system with the Rockets, Westbrook shot a career-high clip of 47.2% from the field. That’s the good news.
The bad news, at least from the perspective of Rose’s hypothetical trade, is that Westbrook will turn 32 years old on Nov. 12. That makes him more than five years older than Embiid, and that’s before considering how each player’s game might age. In theory, a seven-foot center with post moves could have a friendlier aging curve than a guard who depends largely on athleticism — rather than 3-point shooting — for his excellence.
Jalen Rose suggests Sixers move Joel Embiid to Rockets for Russell Westbrook https://t.co/KKH8wAWs1X
— Sixers Wire (@SixersWire) October 30, 2020
Even though Morey seems to like Westbrook, it’s hard to envision giving up an All-Star center who is only 26 to get him. It’s also fair to wonder how Westbrook would fit next to Simmons, since both guards need space to attack the rim and neither is respected as a 3-point shooter.
By contrast, James Harden is nearly a year younger than Westbrook. He’s also a superior player and, at least on paper, a better bet to age more gracefully (thanks to his superior jump shot). It certainly wouldn’t be a shock if Morey broached that subject, even if it required moving Embiid. However, the Rockets have understandably shown no interest in trading their perennial MVP candidate, so that doesn’t seem to be an option.
Trades involving role players on the Sixers and Rockets — even high-profile ones like Tucker, Eric Gordon, and Al Horford — might be a possibility, assuming Morey still has affinity for his former players in Houston. However, it’s tough to see any trade fit in 2020 involving the four All-Stars of Westbrook, Harden, Embiid, and Simmons.
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