Westbrook dealt
’17 MVP sent to Rockets, reunites with Harden; Thunder acquire Paul
LAS VEGAS — Russell Westbrook and James Harden are together again, and Chris Paul is leaving Houston to make that reunion happen.
A person with knowledge of the situation says the Thunder have traded Westbrook to the Rockets for Paul in a swapping of top point guards. The Thunder also are getting first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, plus the right to swap first-rounders in two other seasons, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday.
ESPN first reported the agreement. Paul is a nine-time All-Star, Westbrook an eight-time selection. Paul has 9,181 career assists, the most among active players. Westbrook has 138 triple-doubles, tied with Magic Johnson for second-most in NBA history behind only Oscar Robertson’s 181. Both members of the Rockets’ new glitzy backcourt are recent MVPs: Westbrook won it in 2017, Harden won it in 2018. And the trade means that the NBA’s two highest scorers over the last five seasons — Harden with 11,958 points, Westbrook with 10,025 — are now teammates.
Westbrook and Harden were Thunder teammates for three seasons, the last of those being the 2011-12 campaign when that duo and Kevin Durant took the team to the NBA Finals. They lost in five games to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat, and Harden departed that summer for Houston — where he’s been an All-Star ever since.
But when the Thunder agreed last week to trade Paul George to the Clippers — in a move that essentially sealed 2019 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard’s decision to leave the Raptors for the Clippers — it became clear quickly that Westbrook would be on the move as well. And this trade, when completed, will mean that Thunder general manager Sam Presti has added eight first-round picks to the team’s stockpile in the last week or so.
The Thunder got five first-round future selections as part of the George trade. The Thunder are getting two more in this trade, and got a 2020 first-round pick in the deal completed earlier this week that sent Jerami Grant to the Nuggets.
It’s the latest bold transaction in a wild offseason of movement that already saw Leonard become the first reigning Finals MVP change teams in the offseason after winning that award, Anthony Davis get traded from the Pelicans to the Lakers, All-Star point guards like Kyrie Irving (Celtics to Nets), Kemba Walker (Hornets to Celtics) and D’Angelo Russell (Nets to Warriors) change teams, Durant leave the Warriors for the Nets, Jimmy Butler go from the 76ers to the Heat in a sign-and-trade, Al Horford move from the Celtics to the 76ers.
“Craziest NBA summer by far,” longtime NBA guard Jamal Crawford tweeted.