[Ryen Russillo]There are people around the league who believe that Westbrook is available for trade

I agree with most everything you said. Are we going to win a championship as we are designed?
If we are the last team to pay the over paid superstar players our GM has failed and failed in a big way. The Y.Ming / T Mac injuries (not Morey’s fault) set the franchise back years because there was no return on either of them. When a player retires there is no return other than cap space. Some meat has to be left on the bone so some will buy it —> trade with us. Westbrook is great and all but Harden is the one that will change a franchise and bring positive potential and a lot of it.

 

Ben simmons without the ball might be the worst player in the nba. He can’t shoot and has zero offensive awareness. He would be useless next to harden

 

I look at it like this I would rather have a 6'10 Simmons that has shooting challenges than a 6'3 Westbrook in the West. Harden Is going to be Harden but what Simmons will do is match up defensively with Luka, Micheal Porter Jr., AD or Bron, and an check PG while PJ holds Kawhi. Offensively I would rather have 6'10 Simmons attacking the rim in the West than a 6'3 Westbrook. Shooting wise Westbrook is awful next to Harden, Ben can't be that worst.

Harden is a Juggernaut on offense. I'm starting to think nobody can play next to dude, so that's why I harp on more variants in the offense,
with slashes and back cuts that could get Ben close the rim when Harden rest. I would just rather have a 6'8 or taller facilitator like the rest of the playoff teams in the west if the Rockets decide to trade Westbrook which I doubt happens this year.

It's would be a move for the playoffs in my opinion.

 

Even Russ is better 3 point shooter than Simmons.

 

People here hate on RR like he killed their dog just because he doesn’t like the Rocket’s style of basketball. Snowflakes.

 

Don't be a stupid person.

DD

 

Simmons doesn't take bad shots though, he actually plays through his strenghts, and he's a better defender and passer then Westbrook, not to mention he's what? 22/23? He showed a little bit of improvement in shooting too this season right? Not saying we should make that kind of trade, tbh i don't know if we should, and i bet Philly would likely laught at it in the first place anyway, but i'm not sure a similar swap would hurt the Rockets...you would actually have a 6'8 athletic and smart PG who can guard multiple positions on the floor surrounded by shooters in a D'Antoni team, and at the same time a young talent to build around when Harden will retire...doesn't sound so bad to me. Again, it's not going to happen for multiple reasons, but in a fantasy scenario where this is an option, i'm not sure i would say no...and i'm not even a big fan of Ben.

 

He’s actually not. One understands taking a good shot. The other doesnt.

 

Ben Simmons is not a point guard. Do you guys even watch games.

Simmons is a like a confused hybrid between PF and PG. A lot of times in a half court setting he stands in the dunker spot where Capela plays and embiid gets drawn to the perimeter.

His defender sags so much off of him that he rarely gets to the rim off the dribble in a half court setting. I don't know how many times I see him drive into the lane, gets stuck at the freethrow line, pivots and then pass it back to the perimeter.

 

so true

 

Warriors won 3 titles in the last 5 seasons. Other teams won 2, not by Rockets. It is absurd to think Warriors was the only barrier for Rockets not to win championship no matter what conference Rockets would be in.

 

I mean, that's not wrong, the fact that he can't shoot is the reason why i never said we should definitely do a similar trade and why i said i'm not a big fan of him so, yeah, i'm not exactly saying he's a perfect player. Then again, Westbrook isn't perfect either, but at least Simmons has many years and room to improve, and in my opinion he's already ahead of Westbrook in terms of iq, self-awareness and quality of passing, whether you consider him a true PG or not.

 

a willing passer and playmaker and also amongst the league leaders in doing so. it makes no difference whether someone wants to label him as a "point guard" or not. the league has essentially been position less for years

 

Speculation phrased in a headline grab way. Rusillo knows what he’s doing. I find it weird because he always pretends to hate this sort of media behavior.

 

I mean if you’re a Rockets fan you have every right to not like this guy. I wouldn’t call them snowflakes. The guy openly hates our team and has a platform to spread hate on us and does so.

 

The issue is that just because he doesn’t agree with the consensus, he must be hated. That is snowflake mentality.

 

He openly admits he hates our team, and throws shade. So we don’t like him. If one thinks that is unreasonable or “snowflake” they’re trying too hard to sound objective and the opposite of snowflake mentality.

Fans tend to hate teams that beat theirs. That’s normal. Of all the reporters, I would expect fans to hate ones that openly hate their team, admits so, and says things like he still wouldn’t consider Harden an all time great even if he wins a title because he just doesn’t like him. Yes, that actually happened recently on a Bill Simmons podcast.

 

Rusillo has literally publicly stated that he hates the Rockets and Harden. He openly admitted a bias so why does he deserve our benefit of the doubt.

He is a liar, many more reputable media have outright refuted his vomitus that he insisted was fact.

 

This is a vicious rumor meant to tear the Rockets apart. You won't find an incredible competitor like Westbrook anywhere in this league for a washed up Chris Paul...

 

Westbrook would actually be good if he just focused on his strengths (getting to the rim, rebounding, passing - even the occasional corner three would be fine) and stopped doing the incredibly aggravating, obviously stupid crap he does - threes from the top of the key which he almost never makes, long twos (especially early in the shot clock) which he more often than not misses badly, and trying to be a hero late in games. He has the athleticism, if he only recognized his weaknesses and avoided these things, he would be a real asset. All it takes is a little bit of humility rather than "I'm a leader, I will never change".