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

Hopefully it's because there is an opportunity to get more back in the trade than just Russ.

Would love Covington too but will settle for Nerlens Noel. Need couple of Russ guys on team.

 

Well he lost his athleticism and speed and also the threat to score

 

Well his shooting can and should still be cited as an advantage over Westbrook. Teams don't guard players 3PT shot based on a small playoff sample size, just like no team was thinking over the three seasons before last, "don't have to guard Harden cause he's a 29% playoff 3PT shooter". So unless Paul goes like two seasons shooting <30% 3PT in the regular season, teams are not going to be playing off him or going under screens. With Westbrook, in the end teams are going to take him beating them making multiple semi-contested three's if the alternative is him driving.

So yes, it is definitely an argument for fit, doesn't mean that other deficiencies he now has with age, or other advantages Westbrook has can't make up for it.

 

CP3 was still lobbing the season before trade to Houston. His athleticism & speed was not a problem until his hammy in game 6 WCF.

Even after, his court vision was still working I hope.

CP3 was just not in sync with Clint like he was with DJ and Blake.

 

If you look at where the lobs came from with the Clippers, it was transition, and it was CP getting into the middle of the floor in the mid-range area, forcing the big man defender to step up even just a bit and then throwing over the top. There was also more leeway to throw to a guy like DJ up top than there is to throw to Capela, so that might be a factor, but DJ knew where to be, Capela has not played with Paul enough.

It was similar with Chandler back in New Orleans. The Rockets offense, though it allows for his mid-range, but not really targeting that area might be part of why he wasn't getting to the same spots where those opportunities opened up as much. Also Capela has gotten used to rolling and playing in space based on Harden's game, and Harden and Paul attack and utilize the pick and roll differently. Capela isn't in the same spots that his Clippers teammates probably would be as consistently.

 

It's also because Paul did not look to score at the rim in the fast break anymore.

 

This is an interesting inquiry. Do we have an example of a player changing like that so late in their career? I know even LMA had some issues in SA and they actually ended up adjusting to him for example.

I think as long as drastic change is not expected, it should be fine. Drastic change like that is hard, and what tends to make it harder is if (when) a player has any struggles, they will blame it on the changes, even if it isn't due to that. Their natural response will then be to revert back to their comfort zone.

I think the ideal is not to try and make anyone drastically change, but to try and make minor changes and then merge the players games as much as possible.

I don't envy MDA as a coach on this one, that's for sure. It will be interesting to see what he does. Hopefully it isn't just "go figure it out, more playmakers are better".

 

Was he scoring at the rim much in transition his last seasons with the Clippers? The Clippers transition worked because they had both their wings as well as their 4 or 5, whomever was furthest from the ball leak out and leave rebounding to the PG and other big as much as possible. So when Paul is bringing the ball down the floor, he has the wings already running to the corners or wing and then a big running the middle of the floor and another big trailing. So the floor gets spread and that opens up the middle.

 

If he can get to 36%, this combo will work better than anyone ever dreamed. I suspect he'll be operating a lot from the corners since apparently he shot pretty good from there. If he can get it to a respectable number he can attack closeouts of off Harden's gravity.

 

Best case scenario is he works extremely hard on his shot this season add that to a progression of his shot back to the mean(im thinking the last two years were an outlier for him hopefully) and he gets that to like .....35% from 3, thats it. All it needs to be is that much and teams will respect it. If that happens he'll have SO MUCH space to work with off of James.

 

Thoughtful post, I appreciate that. Thanks. I think, unless he is/recently was on your team, it’s REAL hard to be sympathetic to him.

Kind of like Draymond. GS fans will have his back, but not many others.

 

he was only lobbing to DJ and Blake they are not wings.

And no it was not still lob city in his final year.

 

I didn't know where to put this, so i'll leave this here.

 

Wow. That guy on the right made himself look like a complete idiot!

 

Lmao bless his stupid heart

 

He IS an idiot.

 

Just your average Dallas sports fan..

 

LOL. Will Cain looking like a complete tool.

And he has no one to blame, set himself up.

 

When hot takes go bad. You young ones need to learn from this.