Shakeup in NBA West
Houston also sent 2 first- round picks
Russell Westbrook traded to Houston in NBA blockbuster deal.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden are together again, and Chris Paul is leaving Houston to make that reunion happen.
The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly have traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Paul. The Thunder also are getting firstround picks in 2024 and 2026, plus the right to swap firstrounders in two other seasons, according to a report.
ESPN first reported the agreement.
Paul is a nine- time AllStar, Westbrook an eighttime 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 Houston’s 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 past five seasons — Harden with 11,958 points, Westbrook with 10,025 — are together.
Westbrook and Harden were Thunder teammates for three seasons, the final one of those in 2011- 12 when that duo and Kevin Durant took Oklahoma City to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat in five games. Harden was traded to Houston the following summer after a contract dispute.
But when the Thunder traded Paul George to the Los Angeles 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 seven first- round picks to the team’s stockpile in the past week or so.
Paul and Harden were teammates for two seasons in Houston. The Rockets had a 3- 2 lead over Golden State in the 2018 Western Conference Finals when Paul injured a hamstring, and the Warriors rallied to win that series in seven games on the way to the NBA title. This past season, Houston was ousted in the second round by the Warriors.
Paul, 34, is owed roughly $ 125 million over the final three years of his contract, including a $ 44.2 million option for 2021- 22. Westbrook, who turns 31 early next season, is owed $ 171 million over the final four years of his deal.
Elsewhere
The Mavericks re- signed restricted free agent Dorian Finney- Smith to a $ 12 million, three- year contract. ... Kevin Durant reportedly refused to OK the deal that sent him from Golden State to Brooklyn for D’Angelo Russell until the Warriors ponied up a first- round pick. ... The New York Knicks signed Marcus Morris on a one- year, $ 15 million contract after Morris reneged on an agreement he had made in principle with the San Antonio Spurs.