After missing out on Jimmy Butler at the start of free agency, there is speculation that Daryl Morey has his eyes set on another unhappy superstar ready to move on from his current situation.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Oklahoma City Thunder star, Russell Westbrook and his agent have taken the steps on the possibility of a trade before the start of next season. While many suitors have expressed interest in acquiring Westbrook’s talent, Sam Amick and Brett Dawson of The Athletic reported that the Rockets are one of several potential destinations for the former MVP.
Similar to their pursuit of Butler, if the rumors are true, the Rockets would be hoping to land a top talent that can help with the current Western Conference arms race. But while the possibility of reuniting Westbrook with James Harden would be fun, his fit within Mike D’Antoni’s system is highly questionable due to his subpar shot selection and high usage rating.
In addition to his fit within the Rockets offense, Westbrook’s contract would make it extremely tricky to trade. Over the next four seasons, Westbrook has more than $160 million remaining on his contract, and due to the Rockets’ current salary cap, Morey would have to get remarkably creative if he has any hopes of acquiring the star guard.
However, a trade for Westbrook might be the only way for the Rockets to get out of their extensive contract for an aging point guard, Chris Paul.
In the wake of the Thunder’s decision to trade All-Star forward Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, there are a lot of uncertainties surrounding Westbrook and his career in Oklahoma City, and it sounds like Westbrook very well could be dawning a new uniform sometime in the 2019-2020 season. Whether that’s in Houston or not remains to be seen.
For the moment, this sounds like one of those instances where the Rockets are being linked more because of the front office’s reputation than of any concrete information.