[July 2019] Do you like the CP3 for Westbrook trade?

Lol this logic yet again. No, the only person that will truly be at fault will be wb in the end bc his glaring weaknesses will show on the team that prioritizes them as strengths. He’s easily the #1 scapegoat now

 

#russitback

 

Because even old and injury prone CP3 is better than Westbrook. He's just terrible.

 

I expect a faster pace, and more turnovers...we got dumber as a team

I hope Russ focuses on racking up assists and attacking the rim...20 ppg to go along with 10+ assists

the main reason I can’t be mad at this is because there wasn’t a doubt in my mind we weren’t gonna win a title next season running it back or by adding a few mediocre role players

CP0 was clearly declining, and it’s not like we broke up some championship squad, so I’m not mad, I’m hopeful.

 

Absolutely love the trade. If defenses jam the paint, kick it out to Harden for 3.

 

My thoughts:

- If Paul truly is declining, then a younger Westbrook is an undeniable upgrade at what amounts to a salary swap
- Credit Morey and the Rockets franchise for always actively pursuing stars, something you really can't say historically about Houston sports franchises. That said, Westbrook fell into Morey's lap based on a change in circumstances in OKC and Harden's relationship with Westbrook, and likely both superstars realizing they just weren't getting it done on their own.
- Would be curious to learn if Houston was Westbrook's first preference or if it was Miami given that all rumors pointed to OKC dealing with Miami first. Yesterday news broke that Miami talks had broke down and a few hours later, Russ to H-Town.
- The trade keeps the Rockets from slipping off the contender chair, but where it places them in the west is up for debate. Personally, I think this duo could be as high as the 2nd best in the West behind the Clipper duo if Lebron's performance last season was due more to physical decline/age and not a problem of motivation (Davis has been Mr. Glass during his young career). That afore-mentioned Clipper duo is going to be tough to deal with given the defensive prowess and length of Kahwi and George and that's before you add Beverley's defensive contribution to the mix. This is a team that can neutralize any opponent's two stars at the guard/forward position. Jazz and Nuggets in the mix as well and that's before one ponders what New Orleans and Dallas are going to look like while Portland waves "don't forget us" from the back of the classroom.
- Chemistry? Yeah, that's a tough one. Here's to hoping we see a more mature Harden and Westbrook recognizing mid-career that their window is slowly closing and the gaudy statistics each has produced hasn't translated into winning championships. Hoping they find a way to coexist, work together to maximize the sum of their parts by putting aside personal glory. That might be asking a lot from these two.
- One more point. Question Westbrook's FG%, question his ball dominance, how he fits with Harden. But acknowledge that this guy has the toughness and heart of a lion. For all Harden's brilliance, I think he is a little lacking in this department and it will be good to have some of that on board come playoff time. The problem with Russ is he needs to add some head to that heart.

 

No. But will be gladly proven wrong.
Harden - Dwight -> tensions by the end of year
Harden - CP3 -> tensions by the end of year two
Harden - WB -> tensions by ?

At least it doesn't hurt much if we try this one out. We remain relevant in Harden era.

 

Have you watched Westbrook lately? Since his MVP season his points per game have dropped almost 10 points. The positive spin on that is that he was deferring to George. But he wasn't. His free throw shooting just dropped from 85% to 65% in a single season. His 3 point % is 29%. His mid range shot is the least efficient shot in basketball. Offensively, he's only good at two things: driving to the basket and scoring at the rim (63%) and dishing on a drive. Except to do those things the ball has to be in his hands. Is the ball going to be in his hands? He can't play off ball because he's a terrible shooter. And when I say he's a terrible shooter I mean he's one of the worst shooters in the entire league. But okay. Let's put the ball in his hands instead of Harden's.

The other misconception is that he's good at defense. He isn't. He ball watches and takes possessions off constantly. He often doesn't bother switching.

Finally, his entire game is predicated on his other worldly athleticism and it's already on the decline. He's turning 31 this season and he's going to fall of a cliff soon. Good thing we have him for a year longer than CP3. He's going to make 50 million dollars in his last season.

CP3 under performed last year. But his game is predicated more on skill than athleticism and he wasn't losing that. I think the Thunder won the trade and it isn't close. We just added the worst volume shooter in the league to the team that shoots the most threes. You tell me how the hell that makes a damn lick of sense.

 

I’ll save some people the trouble. But he can beat his man off the dribble dribble dribble. The funny thing is even in cp3’s decline, it ages much better compared to a solely athleticism reliant westbrook who can’t shoot and has questionable b-ball iq. Guys who possess these are known not to have much success here. That’s been proven already. Now it comes in the form of a extremely ball dominant pg with a huge ego. oh boy.

But triple doubles though man and one player playing at 100 mph is much better

 

Westy pushing pace for easy buckets on actual fast breaks and transition will be a welcome change. D'Antoni can finally unleash the true 7 Seconds or Less offense. James will get wide open shots, James will be able to REST and you dont need to deal with the 'load management' of an aging player (James needs the nights off not CP3-sorry) this team needed a guy who was fierce and who could carry the team when everybody else starts deferring shots in the 4th quarter - the Rockets needed another TRUE alpha, and not just that old lion - who could tell you how to do it, but who couldnt show you how to do it. Westbrook is going to hit this season hard AF - will show the world that last year was an anomaly and that he can modify his game for the greater good. Fking exciting.

No more excuses for James - this is the dynamic player he was waiting on, and it just so happens to be one of his best friends. This is Hollywood **** dog and we get front row seats. Can't wait!

 

CP3 + Harden wasn't going to get it done. But the team needs more shooters and WB's poor shooting doesn't help. The cost of 2 future picks that will most likely be when we're in rebuilding mode really hurts. We either need to be really bad or really good when WB and Harden are old/gone. I know we're not done yet and most likely will be trading Shump, 2020 and 2022 FRP for the 3rd piece. If we can win 1 title out of this, it's worth it. As of right now, I voted no because we just added someone who can't shoot and will take away shots getting his stats. So while WB > CP3, I don't see him as a fit we need. I'd love to be wrong though and have no choice as a fan but to hope for the best.

And in honor of Vegas week...this is the raise before the all in move.

 

This needs to be a thing.

 

I'll agree it's a raise. If we're continuing the poker metaphor, the Rockets are a player who, among their other sins, have been in love with their 2nd best draw all hand. They've been raising it up, talking all kinds of trash, and the river hits and the draw didn't come in. So they shove all in.

We'll see if it wins or not. It will be exciting.

 

We got the younger, better player for picks that are never going to be great because James Harden alone keeps you out of the lottery. How is anyone even debating this?

Russ is going to grab rebounds and hammer the other team in transition before the defense gets set - that's very valuable in the playoffs. Yes, if there's nothing there in transition then Russ is inefficient in the half-court for sure. But guess what? That's what you have James Harden for!

So now you're in the half-court, James draws a double-team, and this is a crisis I guess because CP3 was this great 3pt shooter and Russ is terrible. Yes, CP3 shot 35.8% from 3 last year and Russ only shot 29%. That's not a huge difference. It's not like we traded Steph Curry for Russ. And look here! Russ shot 32.4% from 3 during the payoffs and Chris only shot 27%.

The bottom line is that you've gotten a massive upgrade in rebounding and transition scoring while sacrificing a small amount of catch-and-shooting. Boo hoo.

 

At first I wasn't all too excited about this trade. I'm not a huge fan of him but the West is an arms race and we need all the fire power we can get.

Yes, Westbrick has huge deficiencies but he's going to be playing with Harden. He may be the one all-star that will finally mesh well(personality wise) with Harden. I think we're underselling Westbrook and he'll be that huge X factor that can make or break us and of course I'm hoping for the former.

I'm excited to see what this team will accomplish and look forward to actually cheering for Westbrook.

 

You are not an insider and/or your sources are fake and selling you the koolaid.

You assured us that no team apart from Miami is interested in WB, you told us Rockets only "appear" to be interested to drive up the price and we are targetting someone else

Wake up man. You take up a lot of bandwidth to project your fantasy as insider and stuff you hear. WHen will you learn??

 

These were my comments during the Westbrook rumors in the past few days:

"I have a feeling that Westbrook will end up somewhere nobody sees coming."
"Anyone like the idea of Chris Paul for Westbrook straight up?"
"The only thing Westbrook is better than CP is health, and maybe trade value."

Westbrook is not an upgrade from Paul except that he will most likely play more games and minutes than Paul. A low IQ PG who can't shoot is not going to age very well.

Prediction: Which overpaid, declining superstar will we trade Westbrook (plus all the first round picks we still have in the '20-'30 decade) for in a year or two? LeBron?

 

I have never claimed or did i was an insider. Lunkhead.

 

FYI....CP3 + one minimum salary is enough salary for the @HoustonRockets to swallow both Russ/Roberson in trade. Lots of ways to merge the Cp3/Russ trade into something bigger. And I suspect there is probably another piece of this deal agreed to that hasn't been announced.

Throw in Deyonte and Nene and that's enough for russ/iggy.



There is more to this deal than has been announced. I suspect we control either Roberson or Gallo and we have Presti's commitment to participate in a 3- way I'd necessary.