HOU MUST DECIDE
After Russ trade request, should Rockets blow it up?
The Houston Rockets are at a crossroads. Russell Westbrook has requested a trade, and now the Rockets must decide between running it back with James Harden or blowing it up completely and starting from scratch.
Here’s the issue: The Rockets mortgaged their future to acquire Westbrook in the first place, when they traded their firstround picks in 2024 and 2026, as well as swap rights to their first-rounders in 2021 and 2025 to the Thunder for Chris Paul.
In Houston, blowing it up is easier said than done. Harden is 31, and Westbrook just turned 32. Both are due $133 million — each — over the next three years of their deals. The final year of their respective contracts will pay $47 million. Each.
Westbrook is no longer the player who won league Most Valuable Player in 2017. Father Time has a way of creeping up on stars, unless they’re named LeBron James.
In the blink of an eye, the Rockets have become the key to the 2020 offseason. If they trade Harden, they’re out of the mix in the Western Conference, and presumably any team that trades for him is going all-in for next year.
You don’t give up one generational talent without getting some semblance of another.
One of those talents could be available in Philadelphia. The possible other could be had from Golden State.
Here’s what it looks like if the Rockets start from scratch.
POSSIBLE WESTBROOK DEAL
The Hornets have emerged as a trade suitor for Westbrook, according to The Athletic. Here’s an idea of what that deal could look like:
The Rockets trade Westbrook to the Hornets for Nicolas Batum, Devonte Graham, one of PJ Washington, Miles Bridges or Malik Monk, and Charlotte’s unprotected 2021 first-round pick.
Batum’s salary ($27.1 million) makes the deal work, and it expires at the end of next season.
The Rockets won’t pry Charlotte’s No. 3 overall pick, but they should fish their 2021 pick. They can also grab another young player, though the Hornets should be hesitant to include both Graham and Miles Bridges in a deal.
WHAT CAN HARDEN FETCH?
Just because the Rockets couldn’t make James Harden the centerpiece to a championship roster doesn’t mean another organization can’t.
The Nets could offer everything they have: Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurucs, Jarrett Allen and however many draft picks the Rockets want.
But there are at least two better offers Houston can consider. Harden is a generational talent, and the Rockets must get close to equal value in return. One such talent could be available in Philadelphia. The other could be had from Golden State’s No. 2 overall pick.
The first deal: James Harden, PJ Tucker, and Eric Gordon to the Sixers for Ben Simmons, Al Horford, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Zhaire Smith and Philadelphia’s 2021 and 2023 first-round picks.
Philadelphia has to send the bag.
The 76ers would immediately become a super team, a threat to supplant the Bucks, Nets, Celtics and Heat as Eastern Conference title favorites. One reason they haven’t been is because Simmons and Embiid are a poor fit alongside one another: Embiid needs space to operate in the paint, and Simmons, who rarely shoots actual jump shots, needs open space in the paint to score at the rim.
Harden is the king of space, operating only beyond the three-point line and at the rim.
The Rockets could easily re-tool around Simmons, who is a gifted player in every area other than shooting.
Simmons averaged 16.5 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and two steals per game, earning an All-Star and First Team All-Defense honors at age 23. He is a star who has been limited. A fresh start with the Rockets and new head coach Stephen Silas could unlock his potential.
Thybulle would be a loss for the Sixers. He’s a talented, smart, young two-way wing who proved he can make an impact in his rookie year; in other words, Philly would have to include him in a Harden trade.
THE SECOND DEAL
Harden, Gordon and Tucker to the Sixers; Simmons to the Golden State Warriors; Andrew Wiggins, Horford, Richardson, Thybulle, Smith, the Warriors’ 2020 first-round pick (No. 2 overall), the Warriors’ 2021 firstround pick, Minnesota’s 2021 first-round pick (via Golden State) and Philadelphia’s 2021 and 2023 first-round picks to the Rockets
Talk about a haul.
The Rockets land the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, which they could use to select a number of prospects: Whichever of Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman (whom the Wolves are unlikely to take) and LaMelo Ball the Minnesota Timberwolves don’t take first in the draft.
The Rockets could trade for their center of the future. Or they could draft a guard in Edwards, assuming Minnesota takes Ball.
In this instance, they’ll already have a lead guard in Devonte Graham. They’ll have wings in Wiggins, Richardson, Thybulle and Covington — who they could easily trade, to, say, Brooklyn for Spencer Dinwiddie and a future first-round pick. They’ll have a veteran center in Horford.
It’s not a championship team, but the Rockets aren’t one right now.
Houston must decide: Do they re-tool around Harden for the umpteenth time? Do they trade for Simmons and build a future around him? Or do they use Simmons as a vehicle to pry the No. 2 overall pick from the Warriors’ clutches?
None of these options are perfect, but standing pat isn’t either. It might not even be an option at all.