[ZouldiersParticipant]

twitter.com/wojespn/status/1149474995996749825 

WOJ BOMB. Harden and Westbrook together again wow. Thoughts on this one?

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

 I can’t see Chris Paul staying there in Okc being one of the worst teams in the west. He might request out or retire lol

[The GoatParticipant]

 "Chris Paul is not getting traded" lol

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

Is Westbrook really going to be able to play off the ball? Not sure how it’ll work or if it’ll make them better. I’m shocked Houston was able to pull this off without a third team involved and okc was willing to take on Paul’s contract. 

Thunder are going to be loaded with picks for the foreseeable future. What does okc do with cp now? Can’t imagine he’s very happy with this? Can’t really buy him out. Are they going to look to trade him again? 

[RUDEBOY-Participant]

 The NBA has another Dynamic Duo!!

[Arc12345Participant]

Interesting move.

Definitely expect Harden to move off the ball and shoot more open shots – because I don’t see Russ being a great fit next to Harden if he’s running the point. 

I can see this working out if Westbrook is allowed to be the primary ball handler and becomes pass first. OKC reunion.

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

Cris Paul should demand a buyout and join a playoff contending team 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

He still has 3 yrs and 123 mil left on his deal. No way okc buys him out at that price. He’s gonna have to sacrifice a lot of $ if he wants to go that route.

[nick5354Participant]

 Exactly. I wonder what’s the highest buyout in NBA history? This would be a record for sure.

With Lebron and AD in Lakers land, George and Claw in Clippers land, not to mention up and coming Denver as well as old favourites GSW, you have to think Houston absolutely got scared into a big move. I cannot see anyway this works. Rule one is you don’t give away future picks if the trade doesn’t make you better. I just don’t see how this makes them better at all. 

[EndlessknightParticipant]

Demand? Or else what?

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

He’s gonna punch and spit at one of his teammates or probably laugh at presti then turn around and troll him lol.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 And then get traded to Miami to play with Butler the last player who did that.  Perfect match.

[RUDEBOY-Participant]

It’s strange but CP3 & Westbrook’s salaries r very similar for the next 3 years. Both will make 38 next season. Both will earn 41 million in 2020/2021. 44million in 2021/2022 thats the final yr for Paul’s deal.While Westbrook will be 34,earning 47million in 2022/2023.. There weren’t many teams that could afford to take on that salary. Morey knew Okc were desperate and he Pounced!!

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

I don’t know. This seems like a desperation move by Houston to me after blowing their chance in the playoffs last year. Besides taking on Paul’s contract this is a solid return for okc for a guy that didn’t seem to have a huge market around the league. Giving up those picks could come back to haunt Houston down the line. This is a massive risk imo. Taking the gamble that talent will trump all.

[publius2481Participant]

This sounds like a Morey move; grab the star and don’t worry about fit. I am not saying Westbrook is not talented (I am very high on him), but Harden and Westbrook need the ball to be effective. Since both are shoot first talents, I do not see how this works. Westbrook led OKC in shots when Durant was there, so I doubt his game changes. 

[cohenbc1Participant]

 At best this seems like a lateral move for Houston, and one that will require a very successful team to adjust to a totally different style of point guard. So why on earth would you include multiple picks to make a deal like that happen?

If it were a straight-up trade of player for player, maybe you do it to keep Harden happy. But the picks? Part of me really wishes that Morey had told Harden and CP3 to act like professionals and work it out because the team and their own legacies depend on it.

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Wow . . . So what happens with CP3 now?  

[The GoatParticipant]

 Will join Lakers for minimum after a $100mil buyout

[nick5354Participant]

 Is this the same team who didn’t want to pay the lux tax to keep Harden, Durant and Westbrook together? But will pay an insane 100m buyout? 

100 m is not pocket change, I feel like we are just dettached from reality when we are just assuming 100 m is going to be thrown away.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Its already been thrown away. A buyout is a solution to the issue.

[SubZeroParticipant]

Did you see how much they were willing to go over the tax line to keep the team together the past couple years? Obviously this isn’t the same team. I’m sure it’s a fun thing for people to reference but they learned from the Harden thing

[OhCanada-Participant]

 The landscape of the NBA’s revenue is different. Theres much more money coming in where all teams including small market ones can afford to go well over the luxary tax. Where they messed up is by not predicting this would happen and not gambling. You gotta take the big time risks if your in this buisness or just sell the team to someone who will.

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

 now we just need melo

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 The NBA offseason: It’s FAN-tastic!

[BeastMode716Participant]

 B/c Russ is such a dynamic player but he’s really decreased his efficientcy especially shooting the last few years – there’s only one ball & Harden isn’t off the ball – the guy finished 1st or 2nd in MVP voting the last 4 years in a row

But if CP3 & Harden just couldn’t play together any longer this is a lot better than it could have been 

I’m of the belief that when you put great players together they "figure it out" & Russ has a lot more left in the tank than CP3 did & w/ KD leaving Golden State there are a whole bunch of Outstanding teams but no Overwhelming Beast – so you gotta figure Houston is in the mix & now they got 2 Super Star level Iso guys who can wreak havoc in the 1/2 court

All the talking heads on TV will say it can’t work & maybe it won’t but if CP3 & Harden were headed for a divorce anyway & no teams wanted CP3’s contract I’d say this is a good outcome for all involved 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

CP3 seems to be angling to get to Miami and there’s mutual interest there. Okc probably takes on dragics expiring and some other combination of players/picks. Not sure if it necessarily would make heat contenders but probably a hell of a lot more preferable to okc for Paul. 

[mowestenParticipant]

My thought about OKC and their 900 draft picks is how will they draft any better than Durant, Harden, Westbrook, Adams and Ibaka?

 

They hit a whole bunch of home runs in the draft in a row, and then lost it all for another round of draft picks.

 

There’s a really good chance they won’t be any where near as lucky this time around with all their picks and at the end of the day — this franchise has a whole bunch of karma bitting them right where it hurts. 

[The GoatParticipant]

 They could not trade either player for anyone else. Two of the worst contracts I’ve ever seen. Actually, John Walls is bad too. Maybe OKC can trade CP3 for Wall and completely tank. 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

OKC fan so this is how I have taken the trade.

It is sad to see the Franchise player  Westbrook leave but at least he went out on a positive note and left before he was pushed out due to rebuild/hated by fans for his big contract and no cap flexibilty…It doesn’t hurt that he got us something for him either.

The good first: 

It was good of Presti to reward Russell’s hard work+ Loyalty(post K.D) and trade him to the destination of his choice not necessarily for the best player/package…The guy earnt it as we were probably heading for a Rebuild after this year if we had flamed out again any way.

We got more picks this will hopefully net us at least 1-4 good/great players(out of the 7+ picks and pick swaps from both CP and PG trades) or allow us to get off some more bad deals..

We potentially could parlay CP3 into at least one or two more young future core members/assets.

We save longterm cap room even if he is kept(1 less year on his deal).

CP3 could be a good mentor for SGA…

CP3 if not traded gives up 90% of his contract to get a buy out puting us back under luxury tax..So he can go to Lakers or Contending team.. Probably won’t happen as he seems all about the money rather than winning legitimately :S

The bad:Worst case for OKC

Russ and Harden somehow win a ring..That would be the ultimate b*tch slap two MVP’s leave two rings straight after leaving lol..This is without mentioning Harden being an MVP also..

We can’t move CP3 and get nothing back for him..

All those picks end up being worthless late firsts..Meaning no good players taken/ picked

SGA doesn’t really improve and has growth stunted due to CP3 thinking he is still a legit full time starter..

[SubZeroParticipant]

Funny how everyone saying Russ and Harden can’t work together are saying the exact same things people said when Chris Paul got traded there. They’ll make it work

[chrispaulwallParticipant]

this is a really flawed way to look at it.

 

westbrook might have more raw talent than cp, but he’s nowhere near close to being the better player, imo. regular season – maybe. but his flaws kill you in the post season.

westbrook is actually useless off the ball. teams can and should treat him like roberson. so, basically, he has to be the primary ballhandler in order to get the best value out of him. but that sucks for 2 reasons.

1. he’s just not good enough as THE guy. he is wildly inefficient. like by far the worst high volume shooter in nba history. and is pretty careless with the ball and an overrated passer i think. yes he can make some good passes but his decision making in general is really awful for an elite level guy.

2. that would make harden, probably the best offensive player in the league, relegated to being the #2 guy. i think that definitely has value in the regular season so harden doesn’t have to carry the entire team on his back like he has for the past 5 seasons. but come playoff time, you want the ball in hardens hands. if you have 40m wrapped up into someone who is a complete negative off the ball, that’s really not ideal.

say what you want about cp but he is an extremely intellegent and efficient player who could be of use off the ball. he’s not steph curry but he’s DEFINITELY not westbrook.

[r377Participant]

 Two of the most ball dominant stat padders in the game on the same team will not end well.

Houston may be lucky and get to the second round of the playoffs next season but that will pretty much be it.

Both players have 4 years left on their contracts, I can guarantee that one of them will not be in Houston before these contracts finish – whether its the player or the team wanting a change….

[Author]

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