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

I feel bad for Chris, I wanna see him win a chip before he retires. But at the end of the day he isn’t without choice. He could probably get a trade to a team like Miami if he agreed up front to turn down his player option. I certainly don’t blame him for not wanting to, it’s an insane amount of money, and it’s not like the Heat would be close to favourites even with him. But he isn’t stuck completely.

 

You are smoking crack if you think this team is better with Westbrook. Truly.

 

The day Harden’s window closed.

DD

 

He wasn't going to win one here anyways.

2018 was our window.

We still are a versatile defensive 4/5 away from being a true contender.

Relying on PJ Tucker to play 35 minutes a game is insane. He's my favorite player on this team but he needs to be on a 20 - 25 MPG restriction to stay fresh.

Morey should be begging Orlando for Jonathan Isaac. Easily give up two future firsts.

 

So far he's been exactly what we thought he would be: a year older version of an inefficient player who plays with great effort and athleticism but still cannot, for the life of him, make shots or decide when to shoot.

 

The *slim chance* was CP3 for Westbrook "straight up." Morey probably felt OKC wouldn't do that. It wasn't until Tilman forced Morey to get a deal done no matter what and forced Morey to use draft picks to close the deal.

 

Ryen Russillo on the CP3 / Westbrook trade: "I just don't know how anyone can know Daryl and think Daryl sat around and went, "Westbrook? High usage? Wicked inefficient? Couple firsts? **** yea, let's Sloan this b****!"

 

Russ has given us energy and we have won a couple of ones thanks to him. Imagine if Harden was playing like he was the last couple of days. I’m sure he would have just given up on the season just playing passive the rest of the year. If Harden is friends with Russ and still is giving this effort imagine him next to CP3.

Today at least today they played well and as a team. Hopefully they keep this up

 

Did Morey perform the same analysis when he was coveting Melo over the years?

 

Harden has never just given up on a season, nor would he ever...people need to just stop it with these nonsensical, baseless talking points

 

Russ is averaging 30, 8, and 8 on 57% TS so far in January...I’ve been pretty satisfied with his play for awhile now

 

Anyone else that says they haven’t been satisfied with his run would be lying.

Questions are... Is it sustainable? Will we see typical inefficient Russ in the near future? I hope not. This is how Russ should always play. Seems like he’s doing what is best for his game and the the Rockets as well.

 

He gave up on the team and winning a ship when he ran Chris Paul off.

 

I think that he's been trending in the right direction since the beginning of the season:

3 Point Attempts per game / TS% per game, by month for Russ:

Nov: 5.7 / .487 (13 games)
Dec: 4.4 / .508 (13 games)
Jan: 2.7 / .561 (7 games)

I think they're letting Russ play his game, and he's benefiting from it. We've been struggling lately, but I agree that Russ has been one of the bright spots during this slump. I think that we need to let him continue to play this way and adapt around him.

Morey and D'Antoni hate the midrange jumper, but Russ is a key member of this team, regardless of the fact that his lack of 3 Point shooting clashes with what has been our "core philosophy" over the past few years. Russ is a far cry from the eye-popping efficiency of Chris Paul, but his midrange shooting numbers lately have been around average for players of his volume. If he can maintain his recent play and continue shooting at an average-to-slightly above average clip from midrange, I think that we'll have the potential to be successful in the postseason.

We know Harden will bounce back, and I feel confident that the minutes restriction will help rehabilitate PJ's numbers. If Westbrook continues playing this way, and if House and Gordon can return to high-30% three-point shooting, I'll feel good about our chances heading to the playoffs. That's a lot of IF's, but I don't feel as doom & gloom about things as some people around here do.

 

nope...now move along

 

thank goodness they told wb to stop shooting 3's and long jumpers. that's one of the biggest knocks on his fit here for sure. credit to him for actually buying into this. definitely not easy to accept and willingly change when someone tells you to cut something out at this stage of your career. half a season left. lets see what happens

 

I have been surprisingly satisfied as well. He’s played much smarter and is the only player on the team who consistently brings it night after night. I appreciate that and have come around to him. The trade was still very dumb because of how many assets we gave away for what is, at best, a marginal upgrade at the position, but what’s done is done, so I guess whatever.

Still worried about what he’ll do in the playoffs given his track record, but his recent uptick in smarter play is reason for optimism.

 

Okay. I'll move along now, but I'll be back.

 

Was this an optimistic, somewhat positive post from J Sizzle?? One regarding Russ at that?? This must be an alternate reality @Os Trigonum

 

He has been the Westbrook we hoped he would be in the past month.

At the same time, the price we paid to get him means we can't improve much of anything anymore.

Tough pills.