Russell Westbrook & James Harden Are Teammates | Chris Paul Russell Westbrook Trade Reaction

so Chris Paul will go to the Thunder and Russell Westbrook is now James Harden's teammate once again. Now I'm going to talk mostly about basketball stuff, but we could talk about these picks the Rockets sent over, so 2021 is a pick swap. The only players on the roster for that season appeared to be Westbrook Harden Capella and PJ Tucker. I guess that team is still pretty good now. The 2025 pick swap is a little scary because at that point Harden's contract is up and even if he's still on the team, how old would he be? He'd be around 30 and you have to assume Westbrook isn't on the team. or, since it's already gotten worse this season, that could be pretty scary and 2026 protection, which is only the best. four protected, that's pretty scary too, so I guess there's an apocalyptic scenario where the photos the Rockets are giving out in the mid-2020s could be a really bad time for them not having draft picks from anyway now in basketball. things, are the Rockets really better after this move?

I'd like to think, so I mean, Westbrook hasn't missed significant time in the regular season. Chris Paul is a year older CP, of course, and the difference between Chris Paul in the first Conference Finals against the Warriors and these previous semis against the Warriors was a totally different player and that's really what Houston is operating with in this one. moment. How good are you going to be against the best teams in the Western Conference and I guess it was fair to think that CP is teetering down a bit to still be above average against those teams but not good enough to win a series really tough playoff game and potentially not even healthy enough to play in a series like that, so in that sense, going to Westbrook, I guess there's more security. there and Westbrook has a chance to have random games like 35 15 assists that Chris Paul is not going to do right now.

I mean, CP will normally put up 17 points, 7 to 10 assists and do that, but Westbrook certainly has the ability to go crazy and maybe that will be the difference in a tough playoff series against some team since Westbrook just wins a game on its own now, of course, Westbrook has issues that we can delve into all of that, but yeah, I guess this makes Houston better. There's also the fact that they now have two guys who can beat defenders consistently. I mean, Chris Paul was able to do that in his first year with the Rockets, he definitely couldn't do it at that level last season and we already heard things about what he wanted. change the offense because that heavy ice ball just wasn't going to work for him, right?

He wanted to run more pick-and-roll things like that, heavy ice may work for Westbrook now, still, Houston should run more creative things. Offensively, but when he slows down, we just need to create something out of nothing, it doesn't always have to be James Harden now and that's great. Westbrook also gives them a lot more potential with his all-around game, of course. One problem the Rockets had last season was that the switches led to a lot of offensive rebounds and Westbrook is, of course, perhaps the best rebounding guard of all time, so the transition opportunities are greater and we also got to see a lot more shots free.

I mean, Westbrook's free throws have been dropping since his MVP season and his percentages from the line have been dropping too and that's definitely scary, but you think that allows the Rockets to do more things with him compared to Chris Paul . because as good as Houston has been and I mean, you could say that they have run into the Warriors and if it weren't for that they would have already won a title, but they were still kind of on the jump. The dependent righty, like Eric Gordon, has to get it going and Hardin has to take some steps back and Chris Paul has to take some others because there just weren't many guys who could beat the guys off the dribble other than Harden now. with Westbrook maybe he only has one game where he shoots like 17 free throws so I'm repeating myself on that point but you get it let's talk about how this could go south because it practically writes itself I mean Russell Westbrook and James Harden are on the same team, both guys who have been one-man shows and played in playoff after playoff.

Westbrook made OKC's offense too predictable and between two head coaches and two-star small forwards and the year Oladipo was supposed to be the second scorer and seemed really uncomfortable playing next to Russ, so his Westbrook is going to reduce it. I have to think he will do it a little bit, if anything, because he will be forced to do it at this point, now he will toughen up. I also believe it because, in any case, he will once again have to do it. I mean, his usage rate was at obscene levels for parts of last year and, if I remember correctly, he said something at some point that implied he didn't want to. continue to do this in terms of doing everything and having to score 40-50 points per game at times last season to keep the Rockets respectable, so hopefully these two can help themselves in that regard and I guess Mike D'Antoni introduces some A more complex offense could also help, not that we'll see Westbrook or toughen up on the ball.

I'm not expecting that at all, but maybe just more creative pick-and-roll type sets. I mean, you could run a little further. Spain picking roles, maybe you can do some brass sets, although Capella being asked to do things outside of the hoop might be a little scary because the guy can't really do it, but I hope D'Antoni does a little more because I feel like it. If he just gets the ball rolling, eventually Houston's offense could fall back on his Westbrook stern, he tightens up, that kind of thing I keep using the tough playoff series idea because, again, that's pretty much all Houston is trying to improve.

At this point I think they'll be fine in the regular season with this, let's say it's a game five, it's a 2-2 series and it's a 3 point game with four minutes left, what are the next five to six, seven , whatever? What will possessions look like for Houston? It will be difficult? And he lifts the ball. Get a Capela screen or just do ISO. Will Westbrook be the one to do that. Are they going to find ways to involve both in the same play? I don't know if that's going to happen. I mean, I really can't imagine Westbrook setting screens for Harden.

I can't imagine the other side of that, so I can definitely see where you would criticize this. Am I comfortable saying Houston is better than Houston? Not the Lakers or the Clippers right now, but I guess I'm okay with saying they got a little closer and maybe still have some moves in them. I mean, they just

trade

d a decent amount of draft picks, but maybe they have something like their starting five is Westbrook, Harden, Gordon, PJ Capela, and I guess they'd really hope they have some way to get Capela off the court to get another wing, a more mobile center.

I really don't know if they're I'll be able to catch that guy. I shouldn't say more mobile center. I should say a guy who can shoot or make a play off the dribble, something like that, so yeah, I mean, they'll be good as long as PJ Tucker keeps holding up. because they have been playing him a lot of minutes at least last season, so Westbrook and Harden