>The trade for Westbrook in 2019 felt like a last-gasp move by the team’s then-head of basketball operations, Daryl Morey. Either it would work, and Houston would finally break through, or it wouldn’t, and massive changes would ensue.
>In this scenario, however, Westbrook never happened at all. Rather than trading Chris Paul at the nadir of his value, Morey instead holds onto him, insisting he and Harden could still co-exist. And, it turns out, they could, as Paul has the same bounce-back season he had with Oklahoma City the next season. Rather than Houston needing to figure out how to play with Westbrook, and ultimately moving on from Clint Capela, the Rockets instead kept their team together.
>As a result, when they arrived in the NBA’s bubble the following summer, Houston was a team that had been together for years, and the Rockets reach the NBA Finals and deliver Houston its first championship since the Hakeem Olajuwon days of the mid-1990s — changing the legacies of Harden, Paul and Morey.
Thorlolita
They probably trade Harden then. You couldn’t repair him and Paul.
juanman81
I love how there are two scenarios where russ doesn’t happen. In both of those scenarios, both teams win the championship.
Ok now I’m going to run and hide from all the russ only stans.
Kevinsean_
They were red hot and healthy right before the bubble. Then Westbrook fell off and harden didn’t have his superpowers that he gets from stripper lap dances. I really wanted them to stay together for one more year. But it was a better business situation to start all over
Tactical_Tubesock
plus bringing Ariza or someone like Ariza on the team. But I wish those two would’ve worked it out.
5 Comments
>The trade for Westbrook in 2019 felt like a last-gasp move by the team’s then-head of basketball operations, Daryl Morey. Either it would work, and Houston would finally break through, or it wouldn’t, and massive changes would ensue.
>In this scenario, however, Westbrook never happened at all. Rather than trading Chris Paul at the nadir of his value, Morey instead holds onto him, insisting he and Harden could still co-exist. And, it turns out, they could, as Paul has the same bounce-back season he had with Oklahoma City the next season. Rather than Houston needing to figure out how to play with Westbrook, and ultimately moving on from Clint Capela, the Rockets instead kept their team together.
>As a result, when they arrived in the NBA’s bubble the following summer, Houston was a team that had been together for years, and the Rockets reach the NBA Finals and deliver Houston its first championship since the Hakeem Olajuwon days of the mid-1990s — changing the legacies of Harden, Paul and Morey.
They probably trade Harden then. You couldn’t repair him and Paul.
I love how there are two scenarios where russ doesn’t happen. In both of those scenarios, both teams win the championship.
Ok now I’m going to run and hide from all the russ only stans.
They were red hot and healthy right before the bubble. Then Westbrook fell off and harden didn’t have his superpowers that he gets from stripper lap dances. I really wanted them to stay together for one more year. But it was a better business situation to start all over
plus bringing Ariza or someone like Ariza on the team. But I wish those two would’ve worked it out.