Chris Paul hit a road block, happens. He had trouble playing alongside Harden, had health issues, then Morey traded one of his best friends Melo behind his back. We have been through it. The better move would have been trying to get Ibaka, still a friend of Harden's plus fillers.
Team Westbrick on day 1 To be fair i dont hate Westbrook, just his fit on the court with Harden. I hate that he forced us to play midget ball to mask his weakness.
I do think that most people on CF hated the OKC Westbrook. I know a lot of them hated him because he "stole" Harden's MVP. I didn't really care about the MVP. I just felt that Westbrook was a self-absorbed hothead who didn't really care about how to play the game right. And he couldn't shoot. After the trade, many fans tried their best to root for the dude because he's on our team now. A lot of it was wishful thinking. Anyway, we are back to square one after a year. An even more untradeable contract. As much as I don't like Westbrook on our team, I also don't want them to give up good assets just to get rid of him. We made the mistake with Ryan Anderson. We made the mistake with CP3. We don't want to make the same mistake a third time.
Well I agree. I don't have any issues swapping Russ for CP3. I don't think we would have won a championship with CP3, I think we still get knocked out in 5 or 6 against the Lakers...but the added picks was far too much.
Well, I think there is a lot of hyperbole with Westbrook. Does a garbage trash scrub player make all-star teams, ALL NBA teams, and lead teams to the playoffs in the West?
They certainly can if their selfish style of play pads their stats enough. Also, you are discounting those around him, a lot of them were MUCH better than they looked next to Westbrook due to his style of play taking away from them. Also, none of those seasons were as good as the one they just had once they got rid of him....no matter who they surrounded him by that wasn't Kevin Durant. He's a player that is good at padding his own stats and some people fall for that BS, but he's not a good basketball player due to basketball being a team sport.
It is going to be a long season. Just as Harden told Curry that he wants to play in a more fluid system instead of Iso ball, they trade for Westbrook...... I agree this bunch would amount to something barring injuries.
The one they just had was a first round playoff exit. The same as the Westbrook years. As for the people that fall for it, that's all the coaches, GMs, etc etc that voted for him as a valuable player and help award him his achievements because they know it's not BS. He's a first ballot hall of famer, easy. That's not garbage, trash, or scrubby. Last season was more of a testament to CP3 not being completely washed up more than some kind of Westbrook indictment. You can hate his style of play but we can't act like he can't play basketball. there were more than a few games last season that Harden was off and just bricking step back 3s when Russ showed up and balled out and helped the team win the game. That happened for an entire stretch of the season. He may not be in MVP form anymore but if his contract was cheaper a lot of teams would love to have him. That's always the case for aging players really. We can't say Russ is a bad team player and then completely discount the years he played with Durant either because that contradicts him being a bad team player. Clearly he's played on very successful teams before, multiple times. The question and a fair question to ask is if he's lost so much of his athleticism that he's been neutered into being a fringe-all-star level player when he was once an all-nba talent... The issue with uber athletic guards is once they lose their speed and agility and athleticism they become...well, a lot worse. We've seen it with Baron Davis, Francis, Rose, etc etc, that list is long. The worry is Westbrook will be added to that list. But as far as his career? He's going down as a first ballot HOF player. He deserves that respect.
I don't think that's the full story. During the regular season WB started poorly but improved his play in multiple ways that isn't easily explained away by reg vs playoff basketball. For instance, his FT shooting was much better pre-covid vs post. That suggests a strong element of rust was affecting russ. I'm not saying Russ will turn things around, I am just saying there's a chance. And you have to look at the situation honestly - WB stock isn't high right now and you aren't likely going to get much in return that makes you a better team. In that scenario instead of fire saling WB isn't it better to try to make it work and see if you can get a more in-control westbrook?
Westbrook critics said he can't shoot, can't defend, is a low-IQ player, a bad fit for the Rockets, is grossly overpaid for his production, and was not worth trading away essentially 4 first round picks. Don't think anybody said he he cannot play the game of basketball or shouldn't be in the league or anything like that. He can certainly rack up stats on average/mediocre teams, but he is not a winning player for a team that is allegedly trying to contend because of his obvious limitations. None of that is in doubt or hyperbolic. It's 100% true. I wasn't against the trade because of the regular season. I don't care about all star teams or whatnot at this point. I care about what happens in the playoffs, and Westbrook was obviously going to fail in that regard.
I've read a lot of that here since getting him...in fact, it's on this very page. People definitely think he's some scrub garbage player, that is hyperbole.
If he made 26 million instead of 41 million, just watch how many teams will emerge. I can guarantee you that, they want him for 25-30 million at best, pal. It's what he deserves at this point. We do not care about what fans think about him, we care about those teams that would trade for him.
I think you have to gauge that against the aspirations of the team (championship) and what's need to reach that goal. WB is a supreme talent but his shortcomings are severe compared to his paygrade. A guy who is paid 40 million a year shouldn't be struggling the way he was. And his struggles were related to a combination of poor shooting, poor passing, and poor ft shooting. That's a lot of issues
Tired of quickly swapping people out year in and year out... doesn’t really work like that. I believe we took a big step back when we got rid of Capela. We got a lot less dangerous when we did. We became 1 dimensional. Wood is here. Let’s give them more time to figure sh*t out. This revolving door is just wasting Harden’s time. We got our Capela back with a 3pt shot. Let’s roll with it.
Oh yeah, 100%. That's the hardest thing about max players. They are usually worth the max when they get it because all that means is that 1 out of 30 teams will give him the max...but will they be max-worthy by the end of their contract? That's why say what you will about Lebron, at first, people thought it was silly for guys like Lebron to take short deals, because say Lebron takes that short miami deal, tears an ACL year one, comes back and tears another, then he's missed out on that deal. Like Cousins when he didn't accept the NOP Deal, lost a lot of money there lol. But at the time it's, oh yeah, When he hits FA he's getting the Max somewhere...then he tears up a knee... Everyone would take Kevin Love as a vet min. If we signed Love as a vet min we'd be dancing in the streets...but at his contract? Hell no. I would say NBA Max contracts should come with a 3rd year team option no matter what but the NBPA would never go for it. It's very hard to not give a young star player his max deal because you know he's getting it elsewhere. It'd be like saying no to Beyonce because you think she's going to gain weight in 3-4 years...you of course say yes and just hope it doesn't happen lol.
If Wood and Boogie are the missing pieces y'all wanted, why wouldn't Westbrook thrive as the athletic, energetic second fiddle? As erratic as he plays, I would think a change of pace player could be a positive... Without WB , we going no where.. With WB , there's a chance he has stretches of good-great play... I think he fits this roster more than that laughable bs we trotted out last year
Yeah, because Westbrook...like Dwight, relied too much on his athleticism. Dwight aged poorly, he didn't have elite big skills like Duncan or Dirk or even Shaq, so he got worse with Age. Yao was getting better with age. That was the criticism of Russ coming into the NBA too. These guards always kind of...take a really sharp decline. D. Rose the best example of that. Was an elite player, won an MVP, now the man is 32...THIRTY TWO...and I often forget what team he's even playing on. So, a legit concern here is that Westbrook's game will not get better with age. I think it's fair to say that's definitely the case. Super athlete guards are like HBs in the NFL. Amazing for like 3-4 years...after that..
Nope, you are missing the point, he doesn't FIT on this Rockets team, he makes it worse, especially when you account for that contract. DD
100% - WB will not age well as his game built on athleticism and has not evolved. This is his final big contract in my eyes. But the rest of the NBA has caught onto his limitations and why his market value is low. In other words, we might be stuck with him. I am sure the Rockets would love to find a good trade @DaDakota but they are wise not to firesale him and make sure they are 1. Getting something valuable in return 2. Not giving up picks to get rid of him
