Makes sense for OKC to trade Westbrook

No one wants his contract

Don’t think he’d fit well with the Knicks tbh. Plus they’d have to give up so many promising assets to get him. Probably hinders the growth of Barrett, Knox, Smith, Trier, really anyone that they get to keep. And I think they’ve learned at this point that they need to build through the draft.

I do agree that it makes sense for them to trade Westbrook but I’m not sure where he’d fit. Maybe if he could play the 2 in Toronto? Or even maybe he and Jimmy Butler would get along in Miami. Sounds crazy cause of their past turmultuous nature but they both seem to get upset with teammates not working hard enough and I imagine that won’t be an issue between them. Heat don’t have a ton to offer outside of Herro, Jones Jr., Dragic’s expiring contract, a couple future picks and OKC would need to really like Winslow I guess.

Does anyone else see a great spot where he could go and be succcessful?

 Maybe Miami with Bulter. 

I think it would be a really tough challenge to move Westbrook and his contract but it’s not impossible. The Knicks have already been mentioned but don’t really have the personell to make trade work imo. DSJ is not really a high profile prospect to me and with Adams still on the roster there is no place for Mitchell Robinson. Knox alone is not enough, Barrett no up for grabs I think. Randle and Portis should have restrictions when they could be traded the earliest if I‘m not mistaken when they just signed new deals. 

Miami might be the real possibility unless Phoenix trades Booker and multiple players and picks for Russ. On the other hand it’s all but sure Russ is forcing a trade right now. Yes the title window is closed now but he always had very high standards regarding (former) teammates committing to the Thunder and he always said he loves playing there. It would be a very high double standard if is forcing his way out now if things don’t work out as planned but we‘ll see. 

Miami seems like the only real possibility to me but with Josh Richardsonal already gone now I think Winslow as the main piece along with Dragic is not nearly enough to be the centerpieces. 

 I don’t know about Miami. I like the idea of Butler and Russ teaming up but Pat Riley still being the controlling owner/GM, I don’t think Russ is the kind of player he’s looking for (1 alpha dog driving force is enough, having 2 can really damage your chemistry) they are already a young defensive centered team around Adebayo and Butler, with a young M. Leonard on the roster. He just recently started to look really good last year in the playoffs before he was considered a bust and an afterthought. He’s still pretty new to this kind of atmosphere thus he could be easily swayed by Russ and will certainly be swayed by Butler. 

I could see the Suns if Booker is ready to leave but then again they already have a point in Rubio. Bulls wouldn’t work because of all their young pieces. He needs to go to a team that is looking to start fresh or is willing to team him up with another star. So Wolves are a definite possibility to team up with Towns, but it doesn’t sound like Wiggins fits the culture in OKC. The Knicks are a possibility to start over fresh and rebound after losing out on KD and Irving. (I would suppose the deal would be to trade most of the young Knicks and build around Russ, Randle and Mitch Robinson) but it sounds like fans hate this idea, because it ruins their rebuilding plans.

Maybe Raptors to start over now that they lost Kawhi and Danny Green. Maybe trade Lowry, Anunoby and fillers (must keep Siakam and Marc Gasol)

After those 4 teams 

 Cavs have virtually nothing on the books after this year (almost 60 million in cap space)

A lot of fans are lobbying for a K Love/ Westbrook reunion so i’ll entertain it with an additional thought:

Thoughts? 

 Plenty of articles out there saying Westbrook is considered negative value. The Raptors didn’t even take Westbrook and PG as a package for Siakam because Ujiri didn’t want to add as many draft picks as the Clippers were willing to. They could’ve had Kawhi, PG and Russ up north and said no. 

Teams signing players to supermax deals are getting burnt badly – look at Wall too. No one wants to pay these guys 50 mil a year. The more I think about it the more I think MJ was right not to give it to Kemba. He still did a poor job – he should’ve traded Kemba a season ago to get a big return.

Not sure who could take Russ. Maybe a team that can trade off bad deals. Charlotte wasn’t willing to have that money on the books for Kemba, so they won’t for Russ. Cleveland possibly could. Orlando or Miami maybe. New York always a chance. Minnesota if they can move Wiggins. Toronto for expiring deals maybe. Not many else. 

 Teams that may make sense:

Chicago: They give up Otto Porter and Kris Dunn + at least 2 picks(with low to no protections)

for 

Russell Westbrook.

Why both sides do this: Maybe the Bulls then believe a core of Russ,Lauri,Zach and Thad could contend or at least get them in the A.D sweepstakes next offseason- As Russ and A.D are pretty tight.

OKC does this to get picks another young prospect to evaluate or make other vets expendible(Dennis S) and to gain a solid vet SF/PF in porter. We also save some money this season(approx 6 mill)and another 4 next season if we don’t bring done back…

Houston:

Eric Gordon,Capella + Picks(unprotected to low protections)

for 
Russ and Patterson or Noel(if tradeable)

Houston get there new big three this allows one of Russ or CP3(or they can look to move him for assets) to come off the bench and be fresher come playoffs.. The only issue is they would have to get bargin bin bigs if they did this move…So Stuff like Nene,K.Farried, etc on min deals.

OKC does this to a) Keep E.G on a reasonable deal to pair with SGA in the back court and b) then trade Capella for more assets-Jaylen brown maybe + maybe a pick or two(as example)??

Hornets(Wild card team)

The hornets could essentially offer two things Expiring deals and multiple picks… So the deal would look a little like this:

Marvin williams,MKG,Miles bridges and Multiple picks(with low protections) for Russell westbrook.

Why both sides do this:

Hornets Russell could drag this team to the playoffs this year at least 7th seed and then if they are smart enough they can some how get some names through the door next offseason if both MJ and Russ go recruiting…

OKC does this for a) 11 mill cap saving+ expiring deals, b) picks and c) Miles bridges who could maybe be kept.

T-wolves: Wiggins+ Robert Covington + picks(with low protections) for Russell…

T-wolves do this for two reasons 1) to move Wiggins average deal and 2) get a legit leader for this young core as Towns clearly isn’t the leader of this team and the team seems to do better when they have a legit alpha player..

OKC does this to get younger and get picks. Also they hope that Wiggins in a new team improves a little on the defensive end which Donovan may be able to coax with a PG and KD did this sort of line you can to…

We could deal with Miami but that would sort of defeat the purpose of the LAC trade as we have two of their picks and need them to be average/bad so the picks are higher…

 Westbrook is a fine player but he has never helped a team win like a Kawhi, KD, Steph or LBJ have. Also his potential to win is likely seen as less than that of someone like Giannis. His miles on the clock is also an issue and if Presti did move him he still has a lot of other players under big contracts.

I think that OKC play this season with their new line up – Westbrook, SGA, Schroeder,, Gallinari and Adams is a decent core. Gallinari expires next season, so does Patterson and Roberson. Schroeder and Adams would then be going into their last years’ too. Plus another year of Westbrook’s deal would be up and he’d be easier to move then.

Need to swap it with another bad contract. 

Maybe Washington with John Wall contract. Washington will prob need to throw in some more assets (draft picks etc)