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With barely time to catch our breath in this now officially truncated NBA offseason, rumors are in full swing. The draft is scheduled for Nov. 18, with free agency opening two days later, and the floodgates on player movements and the major roster overhaul could open any day.
The Houston Rockets, at first glance, don’t seem like a team with a lot of flexibility in the lineup, so they pretty much rocked things off the field. They have severed ties with longtime general manager Daryl Morey and coach Mike D’Antoni, who has been replaced by Stephen Silas, who says the Rockets will aim to be less predictable in the future.
Silas is referring to Houston’s offensive paint-by-numbers approach that doesn’t hide the spot on the pitch from which they are trying to score. But could there be room for some unpredictability with the list? On Tuesday, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor said on the “The Mismatch” podcast that Russell Westbrook would be available and that the New York Knicks and, surprisingly, the Los Angeles Clippers might be interested in trading for the Houston star.
“I have had several sources I trust who tell me the teams think Russell Westbrook could be obtained,” said O’Connor. “We could have Westbrook, and I’ve heard the Clippers are interested. I’ve heard the Knicks are interested in Westbrook, and if anything comes to fruition there, who knows.”
Silas and new general manager Rafael Stone both insist the Rockets remain ‘all-in’ when it comes to the championship pursuit, but lag behind this team – given that they have not. no ceiling space and essentially no draft or young active picks that other teams would be too interested in – is the potential for James Harden to be traded at maximum value. And if Harden is even a distant candidate to be moved, you know the Rockets would be leaving Westbrook if they had the chance.
The question is, who wants to take him with just under $ 85 million on his contract over the next two years with a $ 46 million player option in 2023? For the Knicks, it would be a desperate attempt to get the needle moving, as would a potential trade for Chris Paul, but it wouldn’t make them very relevant in the Eastern Conference.
The Clippers are scheming for the simple fact that whenever you start talking about three All-NBA-level players on the same team (assuming Paul George isn’t part of a potential deal, which would be the move the stupidest in the history of the Clippers., which says something), the antennas are going up. But Westbrook’s flaws won’t go away just because he goes to another team. He still can’t shoot, and he won’t be Kawhi Leonard and George’s primary initiator. His presence off the ball would block spacing the same way he does in Houston.
In theory, the Clippers could include Ivica Zubac in the trade and pave the way for Westbrook’s penetration, especially outside of the secondary offense, but simply making the money work on a deal like this would be a hill to climb. The Clippers should almost certainly include Lou Williams and Landry Shamet, as well as Zubac and Patrick Beverley.
These are four good players who, overall, do a lot of things Westbrook can’t – namely play All-NBA level defense (Beverley) and shoot at high level (Williams and Shamet). Perhaps the Clippers could try to work a more complicated trade by signing and trading restricted free agent Montrezl Harrell, but that would cap them hard, which becomes problematic for a team that might need to add a handful of coins. devices and who still has to do it. consider re-signing Marcus Morris.
I’ll be completely blunt about this: The Clippers shouldn’t trade for Westbrook. I know he was on the edge of Houston before the break, and he can still dominate games with his pace and half-court attacks. But the theory of his still compelling talent and the actual application, and subsequent benefits, of that talent are becoming increasingly different things.
Westbrook hasn’t brought a team closer to a championship since splitting from Kevin Durant. He’s not a one-man team carrier, as evidenced by the post ceiling hit by OKC Kevin Durant – even when Westbrook and George teamed up. The Rockets were much worse with Westbrook than they were with Paul.
Of course, there would be a theoretical third wheel in Los Angeles, and indeed, there’s always some intrigue to the possibility of big names joining forces. But I seriously doubt a deal like this will ever be made with the Clippers. For me, the Knicks are a bigger possibility. I really believe the Rockets would leave Westbrook with a decent offer. I just don’t think that happens with the clips.
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