WOJ: BREAKING Westbrook to Houston for CP3 & Picks!!!

I'm somewhat positive.

WestBrick brings a lot of things this team lacks - intensity , explosiveness and is 4 years younger than Cp3 …. and the one thing everyone is complaining about - his shooting , well , what did the guy he's replacing shoot from 3 in the playoffs (27%)?

My biggest questions are all defensive - and will depend on the scheme. Will they stay with this switching almost everything ?

I think we'll see the offense change quite a bit , for the better. Harden doesn't have to carry the entire load.

Russ will push the pace early in possessions with Harden as a trailer for top of the key 3's , going into pick and roll sets or ISO possessions. There's your compromise and how you limit the number of 3's WB takes.

Picking up the pace fits well with Capela too , he might be the best big man in the league in that aspect - running the floor.
Tucker , EG & House should get a whole lot of open looks from 3 as a result of both Harden & WB attacking defenses and you cant double both of those guys or someone's getting a layup.

Opposing defenses will stay in foul trouble with those two attacking the rim relentlessly.


In reality , I think this could end up being what we all expected when CP3 first came , him getting in the paint and getting guys easy looks and Harden being the closer.


They aren't done either - still have the rest of the MLE (either version) the BAE if they got the NT version and possibly Shumpert's bird rights if they don't use the NT version. Possible they add a wing and a 4/5. Don't ask me who because there aren't a whole lot of options left in FA.


I think they got younger and better …. and still have options.

 

“We gave up too much for CP3. Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Sam Dekker and next year’s first round draft pick, top 3 protected. Way too much.”

 

Absolutely. I was really afraid of Harden requesting a trade this season before WB. Now we are right back in the thick of it (while still keeping Tuck, EG and Clint)

 

Paul was gonna take another step backwards this year. he wasn't able to beat Quinn Cook off the dribble in the playoffs. yes his IQ is off the charts and he's a legit floor general but we need more than that, for 60 games, when we're paying $40M. rus can take over a game unlike CP3 at this point. rus can play 70+ games unlike CP3...

I think it had to be done and we'll have to work around rus' imperfections as we did with James.

one way is to just load the team with talent so fit and style don't really matter as much. just overwhelm opponents with a talent gap. go all in on a trade for love. he's rus' best friend so you know that tampering is happening between them right now anyway lol.

love would be a difference maker in a series against the clippers with his ability to rebound and score inside against them. he would be a matchup problem for the lakers too with his ability to draw AD out to the 3 point line on defense. having a big who can shoot like that would open things up for rus and James to get to the rim at will.

 

Good thinking but I fear Love, the Defense would go to Hell....the regular season would be fine barring possible injuries.

Love is injury prone as well.

Rather go for Covington, Iggy, defensive Forwards. That is probably just me.

I do not think outshooting teams will work as WB is not a shooter.

 

Wes the Brook isn't a superstar in the league? Yeah, the man didn't shoot well last year, but he still strikes fear out of every opponent. The man is only 31 and just won MVP two years ago.

 

yeah but at this point I'm leaning towards not worrying about fit if we can just out-talent teams.

I'd be worried about iggy and covington being injury prone too. although I'd be very happy if we traded for them. there aren't clear cut answers here unless we can get beal which we can't.

 

You are basically saying out-talenting teams is out- offense teams.

Because I dun see much defensive talents outside of Tucker, Capela and tad of Rivers and Ego.

And one or two of them are gone if Love joins.

I know WB and Harden could be at least mediocre at Defense, and Harden good at Post Defense but it doesn't matter because Perimeter D is really important.

Pick&Roll D is okay ish.

Defense wins you championships, I still stand by it.

 

Many people here are talking about Robert Covington or Iggy, but, to be honest, do we have enough assets for them? If so, what is it? If not, what is the realistic plan? Come on Morey, do someting!!

 

I just woke up and saw this and I almost want to cry. What is this ****? Are you kidding me?
What a horrible trade!
Thats it Morey needs to go.
This is up there with the worst trades ever.

 

It isn't as bad if you consider Harden and WB are best buddies, and the City was waiting for Excitement.

Okay, minor fireworks but still fire works. Poor fit but great resonance.

 

What fireworks? More like an atomic bomb. Now we will be stuck with the toxic radiation for years to come.
Horrible! I wish I can go back to sleep, wake up and find its all a nightmare.

 

Terms need definition unless discussions are useless. When I see "superstar" , I'm thinking about about a top 5-7 and at worst, top 10 impact player in the league. Some people say superstar in a broad way to mean top 20-25 player. If you're using the second definition, then yes, he's a superstar, and he's in the 10-20 range, probably around 14-15 or so, but using the first definition , no, Westbrook while still a star level performer, he has not recently (last two seasons) performed like a superstar if superstar means top 7ish type player.

 

The Cat is an awesome listen.

 

One of the few times I have to disagree with you. This had to get done.

 

what are you talking about?? until Durant left, okc was always a contender and a year after Durant leaving they were considered contenders with westbrook and pg

if you play love at the 5 then he would be guarding people like zubac, McGee, stein, gobert, joker. I think he can hold his own against them. I also don't think the rockets will need to switch as much against the top teams to where love would have to switch onto the guard as often.

 

I am still shocked that this has happened. I hated Russ with a passion but now I'll be rooting for him hard.

 

Only one criteria for me -- down the stretch, when defense is locked down, can you give this man the ball to take us home. Yes, Wes still can. Harden still can. CP3 ... errrr, probably not. Kawhai, absolutely yes. Lebron - yes. Klay - probably not. Steph - borderline yes. PG13 - yes. There you have it, the superstars of the league. Wes is on that list.