From red carpet rhetoric to a Rockets revival: How Houston...
Sixteen days before the Russell Westbrook era ended in Oklahoma City and began anew in Houston, amid all that reported turmoil about the Rockets that so many believed had them all on edge, general manager Daryl Morey and point guard Chris Paul sat for several hours inside the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills discussing their uncertain future.
As Morey
recalled that night,when he announced on the red carpet at the NBA awards in Santa Monica that his team was the undeniable favorite in the West and refuted a Yahoo Sports! report that Paul had ever asked for a trade, they explored the possibilities for the forthcoming free agency period and prepared to – as their slogan goes – run it back. Even with the looming notion that Paul’s days in Houston might be numbered, and with all the rumblings about friction between him and franchise centerpiece James Harden, Morey was running his team the best way he knows how in this age of player empowerment: By giving the most prominent stars a pivotal role in the planning.
“Yeah, we just spent a couple hours together and it went great,” Morey said to me then. “We talked about what guy we might add in free agency, the offseason, we’ve got some new (assistant) coaches coming in (so) we talked about them. So yeah, it went great.”
You know what scenario it’s safe to assume they didn’t talk about?
The one where Paul was sent packing to the Thunder as a way for the Rockets to keep up with the NBA Joneses.
In this wild NBA summer where the fireworks never stop, the Rockets simply had to make this move to avoid being stuck. The enormous value of having a player like Harden in his prime, if nothing else, demanded it. Add in all the uncomfortable components that came with Paul of late – not the least of which is that he’s coming off the worst season of his career – and it’s not hard to see why they went this way.
Even with that championship doorway wide open because of Golden State’s demise, the Rockets found themselves falling behind. Their grand plan to land Jimmy Butler fell flat when he opted for Miami. The West just kept getting tougher, with Utah loading up even after the Mike Conley trade and Paul George’s decision to force a trade out of Oklahoma City to join Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers meaning that Westbrook was on the market and LA had its second superstar duo.
The Lakers had missed out on Leonard, but added depth to the LeBron James-Anthony Davis tandem in Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, JaVale McGee, Jared Dudley, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Denver had done well, too, retaining the core that won 54 games last season while adding a young forward in Jerami Grant (via trade with Oklahoma City) who gives them a dangerous new wrinkle.
And as Portland coach Terry Stotts reminded me during Las Vegas summer league this week, when he joked that he couldn’t wait to see how little respect his group will be given when our first set of power rankings comes out, let’s not forget about his Trail Blazers that had an identical record to the Rockets last season (53-29) and went to the West Finals for the first time since 1999. With the league’s newest supermax star, Damian Lillard,
signing his massive deal, C.J. McCollum still alongside him in that lethal backcourt and a new big man in Hassan Whiteside (via four-team trade with Miami) that helps soften the blow of being without Jusuf Nurkic early on (his
gruesome left leg injury suffered in late March is expected to keep him out for the opening months), they’re right there too.
Day by day – heck, hour by hour – Morey’s proclamation about Houston being the best in the West looked more and more off-base.
Yet as was the case when LeBron James recruited Anthony Davis to the Lakers, or when Leonard convinced George to come his way in their return to the Southern California roots, it was the
players themselves who put these wheels in motion. Sources say Harden and Westbrook started discussing their reunion shortly after George made up his mind about leaving, with those conversations between the former Thunder co-stars providing the spark that led to this latest blockbuster move.
Only they know how deep those discussions went, or what exactly they entailed. Did they reminisce about those early days, when that young and glorious trio of Kevin Durant, Harden and Westbrook fell short in the 2012 Finals against LeBron James’ Miami Heat before Harden was shipped off to Houston four months later? Did they talk shop about what it’s like to play for Mike D’Antoni, the Rockets coach who – as
The Athletic’s Brett Dawson and Michael Lee
wrote here – is seen by Westbrook as a reason to be excited about this change of scenery?
In the end, whatever the two old friends said to one another led to this: The Rockets landed a second former MVP who is 3 ½ years younger than Paul while retaining their supporting cast and the Thunder’s rebuild continued at a record pace. Oklahoma City receives first-rounders in 2024 and 2026 – giving them EIGHT first-rounders in the past six days in all after the George trade and Grant-to-Denver swap – as well as pick swaps in 2021 and 2025. They also netted significant savings by swapping Westbrook’s deal for Paul’s – $171 million over four remaining seasons for the former compared to $124 million over three years for the latter (both have player options in the final season).
Paul’s future in Oklahoma City is unclear, with sources saying his agent, Leon Rose, will discuss next steps with general manager Sam Presti soon. The Thunder are open to discussing a trade that might put Paul in a more competitive situation, with Miami believed to be among the possibilities. The Heat’s level of interest, however, remains unclear.
Sources say there were plenty of other iterations of the deal that were explored as well, with three-team options among them and even trades in which Paul would have stayed to play alongside Westbrook and Harden. If they thought it was tough to share the ball before, that unorthodox trio might have left D’Antoni on the basketball therapist’s couch.
Alas, Westbrook gets his new start with the team that sources say was his No. 1 option and the Rockets are now poised to make the sort of run that had begun to look so unlikely – especially if they can keep adding to the roster from here. Priority No. 1? Secure a deal for former Warriors sixth man Andre Iguodala, who was traded by the Warriors to Memphis on June 30 to make room for D’Angelo Russell in the Kevin Durant sign-and-trade with Brooklyn.
The Rockets have continued their push to land the 35-year-old via trade, with the Clippers also known to be among the most serious suitors. They are also hoping to add veteran big man Tyson Chandler.
As for D’Antoni and his well-chronicled contract dispute with the Rockets, a source with knowledge of his situation said the extension he has been seeking beyond this final season on his deal is no longer a priority at the moment. He’s more focused, it seems, on making the most of this dynamic challenge.
And why not?
In the matter of a few weeks, the Rockets went from having the red carpet pulled out from underneath them to daring the Red Nation to dream again.
(Top Photo: Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports)
and we didn't give up our first round pick next year unless it's outside the top 20 which in that case it's 
since we have 3 rookies coming in next season anyway 
. We still deeper than y'all and sent y'all fishing. I went to more championship parades in the last 4 years than you will in your lifetime 
