So Kawhi signing with the Clippers totally shifted the power in the NBA.
So many things changed in a second.
In an instant.
Do we even talk about the current NBA Champions?
No, not really.
Usually we talk about repeat possibilities, new challenges ahead, but we have just stopped
talking about Toronto entirely.
Do we talk about the other team that was in the finals?
You know, the one that had a chance to three-peat.
A dominant dynasty that has been terrorizing the NBA for like 5 years?
No, not really.
Since Paul George was traded to the Clippers for Kawhi to want to be there, it has totally
shifted a culture of another team - the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, they have only Russell Westbrook.
Yes they have some other solid pieces, but in reality, if they couldn’t win with Paul
George, how do they expect to win without him?
You see, maybe I’m in a minority here, but I think this type of change is better for
OKC.
Why you ask?
Well.
It’s simple.
Let’s be real here for a second.
The Thunder weren’t gonna win with the current model of the team.
They weren’t.
Last year they had Westbrook averaging triple-double again.
Paul George had an MVP caliber season.
Steven Adams was pretty reliable and they even had some fire off the bench with Dennis
Schroder.
So with all of that, what happened in the playoffs?
A first-round exit.
Obviously both superstars had long-term deals so they could’ve tried to go for it again,
but most likely it wouldn’t work.
So now, George is gone, but it wasn’t a heist from Jerry West.
You got a very good young point guard in Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and 5
first round picks.
You have good young talent coming in, but one would wonder how does that new talent
works with the loyal superstar that’s already there?
We might not find that answer because OKC and Westbrooks representatives have agreed
to try to work out a trade for the MVP Point Guard.
Right now OKC has 5 point guards on the roster, but most importantly they have 3 point guards
who have a case to be the starting point guard for the team.
Westbrook obviously is the starter now,
but as recently as 2018 Schroder was starting for the Atlanta Hawks
and Shai Gilgeous Alexander was starting last year for the Clippers.
Schroder was coming off the bench last year and did good, but do you want to stunt the
growth of Shai?
I don’t think that’s smart.
Ok.
Why I’m wasting your time?
This just won’t work.
It’s not supposed to work.
Russell Westbrook has to be traded.
But where?
Currently we’ve been hearing some rumors of multiple destinations.
Let’s start with the long shots.
Chicago Bulls.
This is a long shot because I’m not sure how Russell Westbrook fits with the Bulls
schedule.
Bulls have a lot of young players.
At just 30 years old, Westbrook would be the second oldest player on the Bulls now behind
Thaddeus Young.
Additionally, Bulls just don’t have the pieces to compete for a title, or even have
a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference.
Why, as a team, should you take on a pretty bad contract for a name value.
Sure you fill the seats in your arena, you get some media attention, but is that worth
4 years and $170 million?
I don’t think so.
There’s probably a world in which this could happen, but man would I be shocked.
The second longshot team is the Orlando Magic.
Orlando had a good season last year.
They have a good core.
The one that’s capable of winning a playoff game, but not much else.
They just resigned Vucevic, so I guess the trade pitch to the fans of Orlando would be
- hey we’re trying to win and maximize Vucevic?
Well.
Where does it get you?
We’ve seen big men playing with Russell Westbrook.
They usually aren’t that important besides defense.
I don’t know.
I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how he would fit on the Magic.
Maybe that’s because he wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t get them past the first round, so why pay all that money if you’re gonna
achieve the same results?
The third longshot team is Minnesota Timberwolves.
And this trade would actually be dumb on OKC’s side.
They would need to match the salaries and to do that they would probably need to take
on the contracts of Gorgui Deng and Andrew Wiggins.
Them two guys are not entering the last year of their deals.
That’s why it would be stupid.
You would be trading your loyal, probably by the end of the contract overpaid all-star
for a guy who can’t get to all-star level and is overpaid, and a guy who can’t dream
to be an all-star right now and is overpaid.
For Minnesota, yeah, I guess it would be fine.
A star besides KAT, more fans coming to watch games and probably close to being a playoff
team, but nothing much changes with the ever stacked Western Conference.
And now we’ll enter the “There’s a possibility” zone.
The first team here is the Houston Rockets.
Who else right?
Whenever there’s a star player available, Houston Rockets can’t be far behind.
If you thought that Jimmy Butler would be a bad fit on the Rockets, what about this
one?
Essentially 3 superstar/star point guards on the same team.
James Harden doesn’t play off the ball too much.
CP3 wouldn’t do that too much and Westbrook sure as hell wouldn’t do that.
So what we get is awesome articles and reports, but the court fit would be just awful.
What do you do?
Put one of them to play as a small forward?
Hell no.
Do you forget the positions even exist and just play 3 point guards?
That would be insane.
Houston Rockets are having trouble splitting the ball between two ball-dominant guards.
How would it look if they had three?
Spacing issues,ego issues, everything.
Just so bad.
If Daryl Morey does this, he deserves to be fired.
Just saying…
The next one is the Detroit Pistons.
This one actually wouldn’t be that bad considering what the Pistons need.
On the negative side - the owner would have to dig deep in his pockets.
They are already paying quite a bit to Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson.
Both latter would probably need to be involved in the trade to make it work.
On the positive note - that would bring one more star for Blake Griffin and put Detroit
on the map.
It’s the East.
Detroit would have two of the most talented players of our generation and both of them
wouldn’t actually be guards.
There is a bit of an unknown there considering the Clippers couldn’t achieve real success
with Blake Griffin and a pass-happy point guard in Chris Paul.
Westbrook does pass the ball, but that’s usually in situations where he just can’t
warrant taking a shot himself.
Would those egos mesh well together.
I know Detroit would probably be excited about bringing in another star to the city, and
who knows maybe having a Westbrook and Griffin could help Detroit to become viable again.
It’s not a match made in heaven, but it’s something to consider.
And the last team, which currently is seen as the most realistic option is the Miami
Heat.
Miami Heat just acquired Jimmy Butler.
That doesn’t really save them, or put them into contender’s spot because of the other
three powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston - all three can be considered better teams as of now,
and don’t forget about the always dangerous Indiana Pacers.
Miami Heat does have some contracts to make this trade work and at this point, Oklahoma
city probably just wants to get rid of Westbrook, so why not?
For Miami, getting Westbrook would put them back on the map again.
They would probably contend in the Eastern Conference with a ceiling of second round
maybe?
Ball movement?
Forget about it.
As sad as it sounds, Miami is probably the only real option here.
Thanks for watching guys.
I had no idea I would be having trouble finding Westbrooks next landing spot.
I mean on the paper, the numbers look great, the individual accomplishments look great,
but there is only a certain amount of players who would fit good next to Russell Westbrook.
I guess, that’s why people are saying that you can’t win with Westbrook.
Your team really has to be Westbrook-centric.
That’s it from me.
What are your thoughts on the possible Westbrook trade?
Where do you envision him doing the best?
Does he somehow stay in OKC?
Please don’t be shy and leave your thoughts below in the comment section.
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This was PRPLPRNCH and I’m out!