Westbrook traded to Houston

[pdxKingsFan]

The part owner passed away about 3 years ago. Knowing how large estates work from personal experience, I imagine the timing is just coincidental.

 

[Padrino]

It took Philadelphia, what, a half-decade to execute The Process? It’s taken Sam Presti less than a single offseason to acquire the kind of draft assets that can jump start a similar kind of rebuild. They’ve just gotta tank to maximize their own picks, hopefully land a future star or two, and fill in the gaps with young talent from all the picks they’re owed. Geezus. What a haul.

 

[funkykingston]

It took Philadelphia, what, a half-decade to execute The Process? It’s taken Sam Presti less than a single offseason to acquire the kind of draft assets that can jump start a similar kind of rebuild. They’ve just gotta tank to maximize their own picks, hopefully land a future star or two, and fill in the gaps with young talent from all the picks they’re owed. Geezus. What a haul.

To be fair, Presti had an MVP candidate to trade to a very motivated Clippers team. But yes, it's been very impressive. And his record in the draft is significantly better than Hinkie's.

 

[Gary]

Unpopular opinion on this one but I like Russ and Harden together. Both are going to have a chip on their shoulders trying to prove the doubters wrong. I think we can all agree this was run by Harden before the trigger got pulled, Harden must have signed off on it. If both can sacrifice they’re up there with the best in the West.

Russ and Harden have won two of the last three MVP’s. I think they figure out a way to play together

Chemistry wise I cannot see this working unless one of the two is taking a lesser ball distributing role. I would say Harden should since Harden is the better 3pt shooter.

 

[Warhawk]

Chemistry wise I cannot see this working unless one of the two is taking a lesser ball distributing role. I would say Harden should since Harden is the better 3pt shooter.

Agreed. I can't see Westbrook playing off the ball much. Still hope it blows up in their faces.

 

[SacTownKid]

I wonder if it's actually the opposite. That Presti had his hand forced in the PG trade and that a rebuild was inevitable and THEN the part owner decided it was time to cut bait since the Thunder would be struggling for a few down years.

This isn't atypical of moves made when new ownership is sought. They had/have one of the most bloated caps in the league and we're mediocre. They didn't get guaranteed value, they got possibility. I can't remember which team it was but a few years ago when one of them was up for sale I read an article that made it sound like having less long term encumbrance was a pretty big deal when it came to value. Huge salary sheets scared off potential buyers and 22% is a fairly sizable chunk of ownership.

 

[Kings_of_California]

Agreed. I can't see Westbrook playing off the ball much. Still hope it blows up in their faces.

There's so much juicy stuff to look forward to next season:

Will the Harden/Westbrook duo work out?
Will the Lakers be an absolute mess?
How is a Kyrie and Durant-less Nets team?
Is the Philadelphia team stagnating?
How are the Kyrie-less Celtics gonna do?
Will the Knicks continue to be a disaster?
Will Suns ownership continue its dysfunction?
Are the Utah Jazz dark horse title contenders?
How does Golden State recover from last year?
Will the Clippers dominate the NBA
Is this all new young Pelicans team exciting?

There's more. It'll be a joy.

 

[SLAB]

There's so much juicy stuff to look forward to next season:
There's more. It'll be a joy.

Let’s see... here are my predictions

Will the Harden/Westbrook duo work out?
-NO
Will the Lakers be an absolute mess?
-Only If injuries hit
How is a Kyrie and Durant-less Nets team?
-Worse than D’Angelo’s Nets
Is the Philadelphia team stagnating?
-No
How are the Kyrie-less Celtics gonna do?
-Losing Kyrie isn’t the issue, losing Horford is.
Will the Knicks continue to be a disaster?
-Always
Will Suns ownership continue its dysfunction?
-Always
Are the Utah Jazz dark horse title contenders?
-Not quite
How does Golden State recover from last year?
-Better than people expect
Will the Clippers dominate the NBA
-Defensive monsters. Yes.
Is this all new young Pelicans team exciting?
-They still are, but not quite as expected because Zion has a steep learning curve against NBA sized men and not college boys.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I actually think the Harden/Westbrook duo will work better than expected. 24 games over 500 last year, bring everyone back and replace Paul with Westbrook. They are going to be really good and this season will be their best chance at a championship. This season is going to be nuts