NBA Rumors: James Harden ‘Driving Force’ In Russell Westbrook Trade

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.

The trade creates another super duo in a Western Conference that is going to be all sorts of unpredictable heading into the season.