Not bad. I have a simpler version and simplified reasoning. It wouldn't matter since our core is pretty much intact against most of the league. We will beat them more often than not even if one of Harden or Westbrook sits out. To me, the last quarter of game 5 and game 6 still haunts. When Harden was locked down and seemed to be out of sorts, we did not have a second superman that can give us a lift. We have a bunch of good players including CP3 but not that second superstar that could have dictated game. The dynamics of Harden and Westbrook, if working, is more than their individual numbers. That chemical reaction, the fusion could be that thing that brought us home. CP3 does not provide that anymore.
lol at this thread and this poster. There are some posters here that don't really have an opinion, they just justify whatever the FO does. Harden for 2nd round pick? "But that 2nd round pick could be the next MJ!"
Remember when there was a time we were praying that Sergio Llull would come over to be our starting point guard? Now we’re talking about Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. What a time to be alive guys and gals.
@chenjy9 that's the best thought-piece I've read regarding the Westbrook/CP trade. Thanks for putting all down in one place. Fantastic job.
To me, those two picks aren’t a big deal. You honestly don’t think Morey is going to make a trade/ acquire picks from now till WB and Harden are done with their careers?
I agree. Last few years OKC did lack depth and feel like Westbrook did not have enough help to carry his team. Paul George did help but feel like it wasn’t enough to get over the overall offensive slump. But PG did put his best numbers playing alongside Westbrook. With Rockets its a different scenario. Westbrook will get a chance to play with solid 3pt shooters in Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Green and House which OKC did not have. He gets far more athletic Center in Capella who thrives with good passers. My only concern with Westbrook is his stat padding mentality. I hope Westbrook realises that his and Hardens championship dream with Rockets are slowly closing and are able to sacrifice their personal stats or MVP ambitions and do what is best for the team. Overall, win of lose, it is going to be be exciting to watch Rockets play and hoping for minimal hair pull moments.
He's consistently been one of the worst catch and shoot starting guards in the league. https://stats.nba.com/players/catch...rs&sort=CATCH_SHOOT_FG3_PCT&dir=-1&CF=GP*G*40 You can cycle thru the seasons and see that he is in the bottom 25%. He is not a credible shooting threat based on his history, but let's hope he becomes one.
You are thinking far too narrowly here and missing my point completely IMO. Who cares that he is one of the worst catch and shoot guards in this league? The guard position is chock full of good to great shooters, so of course he is going to look terrible in comparison. That is not what we care about or need from him however. We merely need for him to not suck from three. What we want from him is to ideally be average (35-40%), something he has shown with sufficient sample size to be more than capable of. What we need from him is simply to not suck (33-35%), which he has historically often exceeded.
My concern is defense. We got deep into the playoffs the last two years because of our defense. Now Bzelik and CP3 are gone and we still haven't really replaced Ariza. Remember what happened early in the season when Capela had to do more on defense? Opposing teams dragged him out to the perimeter leaving the rim unprotected. Its going to be a cakewalk to the rim for opposing teams making it easier to draw fouls on our C and PF. I don't see us going deep into the playoffs but really hope to be proven wrong. We are still missing a piece and no it's not JR Smith
You know he had knee surgery and shaking then rust off right? Try filtering after jan 1 2019 he has similar catch and shoot 3P% as Dame https://stats.nba.com/players/catch...CF=GP*G*40:PLAYER_NAME*E*&DateFrom=01/01/2019
Apparently he’s “Brodie” or “Black Jesus” around here now. Less than a few months ago it was “Westbrick”, “Russ sucks” “WB is a fake superstar” “Is Russ even a star?” “Nobody will ever win anything with Westbrick” “Well at least he got his triple double.” http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/wc-first-round-3-portland-vs-6-oklahoma-city.297706/ The double standard is real. So many Westrbrick haters all of a sudden flip flopping and convincing themselves that he’s gonna be someone completely different. Don’t kid yourselves. He is who we thought he is.
I have concerns on fit and Westbrook may be an even bigger liability than CP3 when his athleticism starts to decline near the end of this contract, but I also think the risk of keeping CP3 was a lot bigger than some other here do. Harden is at the top of his game now, so waiting out CP3's contract wasn't a great option. CP3 is in decline despite being healthy for the playoffs this year, and odds are he gets worse rather than better going forward, and injury concerns will remain a consistent threat for him. His defense at this point is average. CP3 is a smart player, and a better shooter than Westbrook, last season CP3 made .6 more threes on .5 more attempts per game. CP3 was also willing to cede complete control to Harden at least publicly, where Westbrook seems less likely to do so. CP3 is no longer an elite defender, and no longer a mismatch for opposing guards. Against opposing stars, he is the mismatch. And people had similar concerns about CP3 when he joined the Rockets regarding sharing the ball. Durant won an MVP playing with Westbrook and Paul George was a mid-season candidate last year. Westbrook needs to give up on the focus of getting triple doubles at the expense of team mates grabbing rebounds, and/or not passing unless it's going to lead to an assist. I don't recall that being an issue when he was playing with Durant, so hopefully he can revert back from that. The concern of course is that both Harden and Westbrook see themselves as MVP level players who are used dominating the ball on their team, and generally Harden has done it more efficiently. Hopefully a Westbrook/Durant style of play together works out.
