Knowing what we know now, would you still make the Russ trade?

You had to make the trade cause they don’t like each other

there’s no basketball metric needed

Didn’t we lose to the warriors last year when they didn’t have Durant ?
The ultimate goal here is to win in the playoffs
And that lost indicated we had to make some changes as well

 

Ok, sounds good.

 

I'm with you here, Westbrook needs to be Mr. Fastbreak, drive and dish, and hit his FTs. If he can just stick to those 3 things, this team has a real chance to win every game they play. Doesn't matter the opponent. If we're hitting 36 percent of more from 3, the games over, period. I'm curious to see if that defense I saw yesterday was an outlier or the real thing however. Where has that been all season? Oh, and where's Luc?

 

I've always been mixed about the trade. I think the idea that CP3 had to be traded because he and Harden didn't get along is overplayed. I think the bigger issue is that CP3 was considered in the twilight of his career. While this season he's shown he can still bring it I don't think it was a bad gamble to consider he was on his downside of this career.

Westbrook brings an energy and a tenacity that the Rockets were lacking. While I like CP3 saviness and what a lot of people call dirty I see that as the mark of a crafty veteran but he doesn't bring the fire like Westbrook.

Even knowing everything now I don't think it was a trade that made the Rockets radically better but I don't think it was a bad trade.

 

Since 2019 apparently didn't wake you guys up, hopefully tonight did. Harden did what he did because 2018 CP3 is long gone. He couldn't drive by Andrew Bogut then, and he can't drive by Jeff Green now.

Completely dominated in every aspect of the most important game of the year for OKC.

 

Thanks Tilman and Morey

 

the only argument that’s close to acceptable for why the trade shouldn’t have been done is that those 4 picks could’ve been used to acquire more help

If we’re talking about simply player for player, then CP3 just doesn’t have it anymore despite his cute little regular season, and with him looking like his 2019 playoffs self so far in this postseason, he is not good enough to raise the team’s ceiling like Russ can.

when we face better competition than this OKC squad, Russ’s energy, tenacity, and ability to go get 30-40 will come in handy, and I will take it over CP3’s consistent 15-20 points with many of those points not coming when needed the most.

 

Not sure how anyone can watch Paul and the pre COVID Russ where he was scoring 40 plus with ease and still be unconvinced

 

Is this really still a question?

 

OKC sure does look better than the Rockets. I have no idea how a juggernaut like OKC is down 2-0 to a team like the Rockets.

 

but all that basketball smarts and efficiency?

 

I remember dudes like @larsv8 saying CP3 was better than Russ. LOL this dude looks WASHED just like he did last year against the Warriors.

 

Yea except we defending him way better. And this season he played way better for OKC that for us last year

 

@Htown Stros

You still taking James Harden over him?

That's what I thought...

 

Yes, at some point CP3 will decline enough that Westbrook will be better than him. Is that right now, at this moment? Maybe. Regardless, we gave up a trove of picks, and it was a disaster of a trade.

 

If Harden did not suck, Russ could be as great as the 35 year old Chris Paul and MDA could be in the same league as Billy Donovan, Steve Kerr, Nurse, Popovich etc. we would be winning every game in this series by 40 points.

n.

 

Watching this series , even without WB on the court .... Yes , I'd make the trade again.

Its clear to me that the game has changed and the point guard position has changed along with that - They have to be score first , facilitate second and that's not CP3's game , he's a facilitator and needs a star big man to be at his best.
He's also lost a step - He doesn't put guards on skates .... pretty much only centers is the only real mismatch for him on the perimeter.

This aint your grandpa's post up big man NBA anymore , its dominated by guards who can get to the rim and shoot a decent percentage from 3.

Westbrook is just a better fit for todays NBA or at the very least the Rockets system - they couldn't play this defense with CP3 getting stuck on opposing 4's or 5's ....


I did hear that Westbrook's injury may be worse than the team had said initially - calling it a grade one strain which is a week rehab , instead it's quite possibly a grade two strain which could be from 4-12 weeks (yes four to twelve weeks) recovery time.

We may not see Westbrook for a while .... better hope some of those other series go the distance to buy some time.

 

I agree with basically everything here.

In regards to Russ, I hope it's not a grade 2 strain. We need him against LA. The fact that he was moving around a lot on the sidelines, and in such a good mood during this game, might be some evidence that it's not serious?

 

You make the trade for Russ 10 out of 10 times.

/thread