[Beck] Westbrook Trade Could Come 'Sooner Rather Than Later'

Oh yeah the celtics..like they got Cousins Butler Griffin..im not believing anything until I see it from Ainge.
And Beck isnt reliable.

 

I agree. Ainge keeps thinking teams are gonna hand him stars on the cheap for some reason.

 

Yep. I was thinking about it the other day. If they had a coach that wasn't Brooks, they easily could have ran the Warriors "lineup of death" motion offense. Durant at the 4. Harden at the 3. Ibaka at the 5.

 

Jesus, that would have been epic. Who is to say they still couldn't have scored a player like Adams in the draft even without Harden? They over-valued the wrong guys, and assumed that players would stay with them just because they were winning. It's the same arrogance that LA and NY have about recruiting players. Players want to play with us because we have the bright lights.

 

Why would Westbrook go the Celtics of all teams? People are acting like just because they got Horford they're amazing now.

 

If WB is traded, it will happen before training camp and OKC won't get all that much because he won't commit to re-signing with his new team (don't blame him). WB wants to be courted next summer, get the KD treatment and have options to consider. It's one-time opportunity.

Presti could also hang on to him because offers aren't good enough. I think he's too practical for that.

 

They don't have the best assets.
The best assets belong to Phoenix and Denver.
One super young player proven already in the NBA with star potential >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. an unknown pick

 

Howard Beck is generally well respected. He's a good sports writer.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Assuming he's on the opening day roster, Russell Westbrook is -160 to be traded during the upcoming NBA season. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thunder?src=hash">#Thunder</a></p>&mdash; Sports Insights (@SportsInsights) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsInsights/status/753577052893278208">July 14, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Favorite to be traded...that's just unreal.

 

yes. Since both of those teams have been trying to trade for big names.
Their owners are impatient and want a big name. Denver already was rumoured last year to be trying to trade for Griffin.

Besides Denver doesnt have Mudiay only. Jokic, Nurkic, G.Harris , Murray+ 3 good young vets in Faried, Gallo and Chandler.
And PHX has Bledsoe, Knight, Booker, Len +the players they just drafted.

But Ainge has the leaks and the media and the propaganda. With all the rumours one would have thought he would have traded for half the all star team by now.

 

I don't think Sam Presti had a lot of options. Harden wanted out of OKC and no team, besides the Rockets, thought Harden would be an all-star/franchise player, so they didn't offer anything of real value. Of course, who knows what would've happen had they kept Harden for one more year. Maybe they win a title and they stay intact.

 

I think the Lakers are the best team to deal with for Presti...a package like Russell and Ingram is probably the best thing they can have back at this point, and also fits pretty well what they already have.

Adams
Sabonis
Ingram
Roberson/Oladipo
Russell

The thing is, Westbrook is an expiring, he'll have a say in his destination, and i really don't see the Lakers as a great destination for a top player as today...Boston, Phoenix, Orlando and Denver are all better destinations for him -> if he wants to play in a good team and not just live in LA and play with a couple of old scrubs to put up amazing numbers.

And this btw can open up even more possibilities imo...if he says that he wants to team up with, let's say Harden, Boogie or Davis, this can become pretty interesting.

 

Now some other "expert" says that a deal with Griffin and Boston is done.

The only thing that I believe is that a deal is more likely this weekend because after that most teams will go on vacation.

 

Celtics in: Westbrook + Collison
OKC in: Smart + Brown + Future First + Jerebko + Young

Would that be a reasonable starting point?

 

If you're NO you do everything you can to trade for Westbrook. Davis needs a good PG next to him and I think those two guys together could dominate.

 

OKC would be moronic to keep him if he doesn't sign a new contract before the trade deadline. The team wasn't built by attracting free agents and if they let their second superstar walk away for nothing, then they enter basketball purgatory: good enough to win 35-40 games, but not bad enough to pick near the top of the draft. They'll have Oladipo, Adams, Kanter, etc., but no transcendent talent.

I think Presti knows that the Oklahoma City market will never attract free agents and that the only reason they've been a top-tier team is because they were terrible the last few years in Seattle, allowing them to draft Durant and Westbrook. They've got the non-Westbrook group locked up under rookie contracts for a few years, so I imagine that they'll want to trade Westbrook for high picks to build around the remaining team.

 

Westbrook is so talented, they should just try to put together freak team for one year and see what happens. They won't be getting anything in a trade. In other words try a freak shooter like Jimmer and Daniels and stuff like that and just see if it works. They are in a difficult situation, but with a player like Westbrook they can make one last throw at it before going into complete shutdown.

 

Great post. Wish we had flipped Dwight for a couple of those players.