As talented as Westbrook is, that makes his major problem this: knowing that it he can possibly be the second best player on a team.
His major problem is that he is uber talented and entertaining while only KD/JH/et al succeeded to any extent w/him BECAUSE THEY 'GREW UP' TOGETHER! If RW would ever harness his madskillz into a WinningFirst culture then look out below! I really, really really tho't this incarnation of Thunder would give Dubs a major challenge, on the par w/what I expected from TheGoodGuys who delivered (can we add 2 halves and = 4thWCF W??? Puh-leeze!).
See this is more what I have been thinking - much more of a Morey type move.. everyone is focused entirely on LBJ and PG, and then out of no-where, an announcement is made that Houston has traded for Leonard, and not had to give up anywhere NEAR what they would have to give up for LBJ. I think I would even rather have a guy in Leonard who would love nothing more than to stick it to Pop's ugly mug every chance he gets, then LBJ who is already focusing on his 'post-NBA life'. Assuming he is healthy, I would love to see KL here in Houston.
We have literally nothing to offer for Kawhi. I'm also not clear on why people continually suggest that Morey does these shocking misdirection trades/signings? Harden: I honestly don't remember whether we were linked to him or not specifically Dwight: We were linked to him heavily for like 3 years before we finally signed him. Very public. CP3: Again, very publicly linked to him, even if many in the media thought he'd pick San Antonio over us. Melo: Similar to Dwight, we've made multiple public attempts to get him here. Bosh: Again, multiple public attempts to get him here. What is the "Morey Move" that came out of nowhere?
Exactly. They’re not trading him to the lakers just because the lakers want him. All the children on this site think this is nba2k or something.
Harden was out of nowhere. We were linked to Dwight, only to be told that he would never resign with us. Same with Paul the first time. The second time, it looks like he at least heard us out. Melo and Bosh never gave us the time of day as free agents. I would argue Paul and Harden came out of nowhere.
How could you argue Paul was out of nowhere when there were articles all offseason leading up the free agency period listing us as one of the teams he was looking at? Clutch did a podcast before it happened saying the Rockets were confident they were getting Paul. The only part that came out of nowhere was the trade instead of free agent signing. The fact that we actually got Paul didn't come out of nowhere.
Westbrook's a stud. No one can deny his talent, his competitive spirit. I hate to think of him as a stat-chaser; when he held back, the Thunder started slow. When he stepped it up, the Thunder won more games overall, but collapsed in the end. When he played with Durant, he nearly got past the Warriors. In fact, up 3-1, they should have won. There is just something in his DNA, a tunnel vision.
You can even go back to the Artest trade. All moreys moves are kept relatively quiet (because he’s the best). I worry about Lebron creating a super team we have to compete with, and the warriors getting stronger. However, Morey rarely lets us down. His “trick up the sleeve” comment after last year ended up being a reference to getting Chris Paul. I believe his “new math” comment from a couple weeks ago means something as well.
Stephen A.: 1. DeMarcus Cousins - Alvin Gentry goes on the air, interviews with reporters weeks ago. God Bless him because he was so nice, politically correct. He doesn't want DeMarcus Cousins back, trust me on that. 2. We talk about CP3. CP3 walked away from $200M. He's loving Houston right now. I can't see him coming back unless LeBron is in LA. 3. OKC will offer Paul George the max. They don't want to lose him. They need someone alongside Russell Westbrook. They can't leave him hangin'. 'Melo is expected to opt out, even though he's owed $28M. Not sure how wise that is. He may need to opt in because how much money is really available? We'll see. There's so much money for George in OKC, for him to walk away, it has to be an ideal situation and the only ideal situation I see is LA with LeBron. Max: I'd be shocked if he sticks in OKC. I expect him to be in LA. SAS: I expect him to be in LA.
Yea Cuban has that desperate stink. He will throw a max at anybody half-way decent to try and get them to go to Dallas.
