LOL. They were never even close. Westbrook had higher PER than Rose when Rose won MVP. To say he was on the same level as Durant is laughable.
Rose > Westbrook Has Westbrook ever played on a team where he was by himself with no other stars? Does Westbrook see the same defenses Rose sees?To answer both: no. He should be right behind Durant if he's the same Rose after this injury.
I'm not saying Westbrook is better than Rose but in last years finals, Lebron and Wade guarded Westbrook and Westbrook still averaged something like 35-5-8 which is nearly impossible when Lebron and Wade is guarding you in your first finals experience at the age of 23. Guys, stop undervaluing Westbrook. He's a great player. I dont if Harden surpass him in the future but right now, Westbrook is the greater player. Respect that kid, he's a very good player.
He plays on a team with much more offensive fire power. Rose plays with Boozer (who hasn't been the all-star Boozer that he used to be), Noah (who isn't an offensive threat), Deng (who Rose used to create shots for because Deng wasn't aggressive enough to get his own like he's doing these days), and Keith Bogans (who wasn't an offensive threat either). They couldn't even beat Philly who was 8th seeded team after Rose went down because they had trouble scoring without him. Westbrook has the 2nd best player in the NBA who receives even more attention from the defense than Westbrook does. Offensively, the Thunder are much more talented than the Bulls. Not saying Rose doesn't have enough talent around him (the Bulls are still a great defensive team also), but he's really the only guy who can get them a shot against great defensive teams who force the Bulls into late shot clock attempts. Not taking anything away from what you said about Westbrook in the Finals, he played great, he definitely deserves credit for it. But, I won't look at him the same as some of these other PGs until he gets his own team and does it as a #1 option. It's definitely not the same, your efficiency is going to take a little hit if you're the only guy who can break down a defense.
Its too bad that injuries take away so much from a player. Rose is MVP of the entire league and his only consider as the 5th best player?
I agree except I wouldn't trade him for B. Lopez, unless we were bringing him in to play PF next to Asik.
