Well, well, well, isn’t this quite the turn of events?
The landscape of the NBA was flipped on its head for about the 10,000th time this summer when the Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the world (and NBA Twitter) by reportedly sending Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Chris Paul and two first rounders. The trade further stock piles the Thunder’s long list of first-round draft picks, and now has rumors swirling around another trade involving Paul.
But the real interesting nugget is that Westbrook and James Harden, who played together in OKC for three seasons, sought out the reunion, and Houston was Westbrook’s preferred destination, not the Miami Heat. Furthermore, Harden reportedly was the driving force in the deal.
Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti worked with Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, to deliver the former MVP to his preferred destination: A reunion with James Harden, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2019
James Harden was a driving force in this deal, I’m told. Russell Westbrook and Harden decides they wanted to reunite and Rockets made it happen despite some questions about fit now that Harden is so ball dominant. Houston believes ceiling is higher with Russ than CP3.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) July 12, 2019
The trade creates another super duo in a Western Conference that is going to be all sorts of unpredictable heading into the season.
