Marc Stein on the Russell Westbrook Trade Market

The early signals emanating from Philadelphia suggest that Morey, the 76ers’ new president of basketball operations, wants to give Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons every last chance to click before trading one of them. Houston, just to name one non-Nets option, could decide to wait to see if the Sixers’ stance changes. As wary as the Rockets must be about doing a deal of that magnitude with Morey, we’ve seen that front offices that know each other well often find it easier to collaborate on the biggest of trades.

The Knicks, at least so far, are taking a measured approach to the idea of trading for Westbrook. No, really.

It’s a serious struggle to imagine where Houston would be able to dispatch Westbrook if both the Hornets and the Knicks pass. And the Knicks’ posture on Westbrook is best described as “weighing, but resisting.”

After surrendering so much draft capital to acquire Westbrook, Houston hopes to come away with at least one future first-round pick if it trades him. The Knicks could furnish a projected late first-rounder they acquired from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, but that is the most attractive asset they appear willing to include in a Westbrook deal. The best offer Houston can reasonably expect from the Knicks features players not in the team’s long-term plans, such as Julius Randle and the disappointing Dennis Smith Jr., and even then it’s no lock that the Knicks would agree to take on the $133 million left on Westbrook’s contract over the next three seasons.

Although it is widely presumed that Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks’ new coach, would be in favor of a Westbrook trade — given Thibodeau’s longstanding win-now reputation — Leon Rose is the one responsible for plotting the team’s course as the new president of basketball operations. Rose has had nearly nine months to map out his first major roster move. Does he really want to christen the Rose era by taking a chance on Westbrook when the point guard is no longer regarded as an automatic choice among the game’s top 20 players? If so, it would be an admission that the Knicks know they are unlikely to be deemed an attractive free-agent destination any time soon.

Westbrook, 32, receives too much criticism for the current state of his game; let’s not gloss over the fact he averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game for the Rockets last season before a combination of injury and coronavirus issues hampered him during the N.B.A. restart at Walt Disney World. The risks with Westbrook, though, are undeniable. He has a worrisome injury history for a player who relies on his athleticism, holds debatable appeal as a free-agent draw for fellow stars and wouldn’t appear to be the ideal fit alongside RJ Barrett, one of the Knicks’ few keepers.

Westbrook and Thibodeau are both relentlessly competitive, which seemingly makes them a match, but a measured approach here is the sensible one. Even the Knicks, famed for chasing the game’s biggest names at all costs over these past two decades of futility, seem to see that.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/sports/basketball/westbrook-harden-trade.html