Russell Westbrook traded to the Houston Rockets
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| Westbrook reunites with Harden; Chris Paul goes back to OKC where he began his career during the Hurricane Karina disaster |
The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to trade Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, pick swaps in 2021 and 2025, league sources tell ESPN.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2019
I left out Thunder's Jerami Grant deal with Denver: OKC has acquired EIGHT first-round picks since draft night: 2020: Denver (1-10), 2021: Miami; 2022: LAC; 2023: Miami (1-14), 2024: LAC; 2024: Houston (1-14); 2026: LAC; 2026: Houston (1-4).— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2019
Need to factor in that with the recent trades, OKC will likely retain the 2020 first (top 20 protected to Philly) and 2022 first (top 14 protected to Atlanta).— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 12, 2019
From 2020 to 2026: 15 first-round picks and the swap rights in 4 years.
A list of the draft picks Sam Presti has racked up in this Oklahoma City trade spree ... via @AlbertNahmad ⬇️ https://t.co/y7JuIiqdf8— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 12, 2019
Russell Westbrook and James Harden reunite in Houston. Oklahoma City is about to own the NBA Draft. Expect Chris Paul to be traded sooner rather than later. I like the Thunder approach of rebuilding instead of being a treadmill team. Chris Paul is a negative contract right now, but I could see Presti flipping him for other bad contracts and draft picks. Paul can still play. He's just not worth the contract. Someone will trade for him.
The Rockets wanted to pair Harden with Jimmy Butler. Instead they pair him with Westbrook, which a more questionable fit, but they were able to keep Capella, Gordon and Tucker, AND unloaded CP3. Like the Clippers and Lakers before them, risky move giving up so many firsts down the road.
Who do you think won the trade?
