The Undefeated:CP3 interview -talks Westbrook trade

There was no grand conspiracy by the players or coaches to get rid of Chris Paul.

Yes his health was a concern, but both the head coach and GM really liked Paul's game and felt he would age well but with less minutes.

Hell, towards the end of last year Morey and MDA wanted to add a really solid point guard to play minutes so Paul wouldn't play 30+ minutes.

Did the players get sick of Paul's constant needling and criticism? Yes they did. I know Harden and Tucker both did. However, Tucker and Harden both wanted to continue to play with Paul and respect him. Off the court Paul got along and was respected by players and coaches.

The idea from Harden and the GM was to ADD another all star player to the duo of Paul and Harden so that Paul wasn't counted on to score as much and would have a smaller load.

Harden attempted to bond with Jimmy Butler during the off season and work out with him and the relationship was going well. The Rockets believed they had a very good chance of getting Butler and had deals lined up to move Capela and Gordon so they could keep Paul.

The owner of the Rockets had honored the promised contract to Paul. However, with Paul missing so much time and the Rockets no longer a 65 win team, he began to openly complain to his front office and other people around the league. He did not like paying a player that much money while missing so much time and was afraid Paul would only get worse.

Ownership was on board with adding Butler to Paul with the premise that the team would be expensive but have an excellent chance of winning at least one title.

Around this same time, (prior to Paul George being traded), Westbrook had confided in Harden that he was not entirely happy with the composition of the team in OKC and questioned if they would win. Harden passed on this information to the front office but the focus was on adding Butler and there were concerns that OKC would not trade him.

Ownership had his GM and other people leak that the Rockets believed they would get Butler. Butler NEVER said he would go to the Rockets but agreed to meet with them during free agency. During this time there were other organizations leaking to ESPN and other outlets negative comments about the Rockets in an effort to stop the Rockets plans.

While all of this was going on, Butler and Wade had been discussing the possibility of Butler leading the Heat. Butler liked the opportunity to lead his own team and liked the Miami area. Once free agency began Butler stopped responding to the Rockets or James Harden. The Rockets were forced to scramble.

At ownerships request Chris Paul was discussed in trades but the Rockets requirement to actually improve from a deal was not looking likely. Ownership for the Rockets wanted a splash.

Daryl Morey met with Paul and told him he did not see a deal where Paul would be dealt.

The Clippers made the deal for George and that gave the Thunder the desire to deal Westbrook now. Westbrook met with the Thunder and said he would prefer to be traded to the Houston Rockets.

Harden wanted Westbrook and again told the Rockets that Westbroook wanted a trade and preferred a deal to the Houston Rockets. Harden wanted to add Westbrook to the Paul and Harden combination.

Ownership was highly motivated to make a splash after the embarassment of Butler. Ownership also strongly liked the ability to trade Paul for a player like Westbrook.

Harden was told that the salaries and parameters for a Westbrook deal would include moving Paul, as it was not possible otherwise. Harden was still in favor of a deal to get Westbrook if possible.

The Rockets and Thunder spoke about a possible deal but the Thunder wanted 4 first round draft picks. Daryl Morey was not willing to pay that amount, as it was a gross over pay for also losing the talent of Paul.

Ownership pushed for the deal.

The Rockets and Thunder reached a deal by putting is some protection on the draft picks and pick swaps which would at least give the Rockets some draft choices.

Ownership was estatic. Harden was estatic. The front office had mixed feelings and the head coach was not as excited.

The Paul/Westbrook deal was agreed to prior to the official date........ it then sat for awhile while the Rockets and Thunder attempted to increase the trade with other teams involved. The Rockets GM brought offers to ownership that declined the additional salary.

From what I have heard, Paul is upset at Harden and Morey...... but the Rockets have only positive feelings for Paul. The Rockets also overall are happy with Westbrook but know they need to fix somethings defensively.

 

The Bad Boys were hanging their hats on intense Defense, intimidation and more Defense.

 

good stuff @Nook

 

Not exactly thrilled with our new situation as Knicks 2.0 with Tilman not letting Morey actually do his job.

 

I am not either.

The hope is that Tillman becomes less hands on with experience.

He isn't completely cutting the costs to the bone, he did resign Paul and then take on Westbrook's larger contract....... but he has made a number of very poor decisions so far.

Tillman is telling people he will go into the tax at the deadline, lets wait and see.

 

After what he did for last year’s trade deadline...I’ll believe it when I see it. It really doesn’t matter what he says now, though. He already purged the team of any tradeable salaries to acquire a difference maker.

 

yeah I'm not sure about the going into tax either after he worked so hard to avoid the repeater last year and now he's back at step 1 this year

 

This can't be true. I was told that Harden hated Chris Paul and he asked MDA to get rid of him during a game. Clutch fans said that Harden hated Paul and demanded that he be traded!

 

How are the Rockets like the Knicks?

 

James Harden isn't perfect. Then again neither was Michael Jordan or LeBron James or Larry Bird. However, he never asked for Paul to be dealt. He never demanded that Paul play a particular way. They got along fine. They both were extremely competitive and were not used to deferring to another player. However they also really respected each other and believed they would help each other win a title.

Crap about Harden and Paul fighting came out at the end of the year and look no further than the people that reported it...... same with the Westbrook is on the market crap.

People point to the press conference where Harden was pissed and said he knew what needed to be done as some sort of vague reference to getting rid of Paul. Yet those same people never point to what Harden said minutes later when he was asked about his future and specific changes........ he said he didn't care, all he cared about was winning.

Also, Ariza and Tucker both constantly had fights or words with other players in the locker room, including Harden and Paul and Capela........ yet they are the most respected players by Paul, Harden and Capela. Harden has words with guys, so did Paul and so does Westbrook....... and they all get over it, because they respect each other and want to win. Hell, poor Austin Rivers constantly had someone going at him.

 

How are you going to bury this stuff in a thread I dont frequent @Nook!? This is great! I didn't even need a subscription to The Athletic.

 

If I could like this post more than once I would.

A perfect encapsulation of how the summer transpired. Step by step by step. No BS. Thank you @Nook for taking the time to write this up.

 

I have my doubts. BUT if he does prove to go into the LT for adding talent I will absolutely give him full credit. I will be fair.

 

This post is so good I had to add a link to it in my signature so we can remember the facts of the situation. Nice to have it detailed in one place.

 

Shaqting a fool

 

We got absolutely greased lmfao

 

CP3 put everything on the line to get to Houston. Yeah, he took ALL his $$, but he bought in and chose us, and stars typically don’t. Uprooted his whole family...the whole 9. And when he started to decline we kicked him to the curb with the quickness.

This is why I have no issues with players using whatever leverage they have to do what’s best for them. Loyalty can’t be a one way expectation.

 

CP3 HAD to take the money. I'll never blame him for that.

He is the leader of the players association and he has to set an example...not his fault that dudes were willing to take massive paycuts to play for the Warriors.

 

I mean...nobody’s surprised, right? We took a historically efficient player and traded him for a historically inefficient player because of a bad 6 game series against Golden State. Simple as that. Dumb.

This Rockets team would pretty easily be the favorite if we just kept Chris Paul. Harden wouldn’t be doubled. We’d have another capable shooter. We’d have a way better defender. It’s disappointing.

Only can hope that Westbrook goes on a hot streak come April/May.

 

That’s the bottom line.