he NBA is rife with various possible trade scenarios and as long as the trade brings benefits to all sides involved, nothing should be discounted.
Two months ago, if you were told that Kevin Durant is joining the Golden State Warriors, Dwyane Wade would leave the Miami Heat and Derrick Rose is the starting point guard of the New York Knicks, that would be farfetched, even crazy. They were all part of the creative rumor mill and many observers dismissed it but it all happened.
On that note, the rumor mill is now churning out trades for Russell Westbrook. Nate Scott of FTW noted that it’s inevitable to trade Westbrook because of his contract status and his refusal to sign an extension indicates that he could leave.
With that in mind, Pat Bradley of NESN suggested this “mega-blockbuster” deal that could make sense for three teams.
The Kevin Durant decision definitely sent waves all around the league and even the contenders are considering their chances to contend this year. On that note, they are starting to look at the long-term.
Bradley suggested that Russell Westbrook be traded to the Clippers for Chris Paul, Paul will go to Cleveland and join his “banana boat buddy” LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will be sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There could be some picks involved and from a talent standpoint, Westbrook is better than the other two at this point. The Clippers could roll the dice on him because Westbrook is an LA native and still has strong ties with his alma mater UCLA. Russ was often rumored to sign with the LA Lakers, but the Clippers are in the same city, in the same arena and is much more competitive in the short term.
The Clippers are not wary of trading their picks, especially if it’s upgrading Paul for a younger, more athletic Westbrook, although they would miss his leadership.
For the OKC Thunder, Kyrie Irving provides something that they need at this point-security. Irving is on a long-term deal and for the Thunder, they get an even younger superstar which they could build around with no qualms about free agency, at least for another three years. Irving may not be as explosive as Westbrook but he has shown that he can be worthy of a franchise tag.
It’s much better to get Irving than losing Westbrook for nothing and in terms of superstar return, Irving is probably their best bet. Teams like the Celtics or Lakers have nothing close to Irving they can offer.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the least incentive to trade and they have the one player that’s not a free agent in 2017, but the league’s worst kept secret is that LeBron James runs the show in Cleveland (all the more now that he has won the title for them) and that he wants to bring his “brotherhood” together. Paul could be the first step and they do not lose anything talent-wise, except that CP3 is much older.
But the championship window for the Cavs is now-even LeBron James won’t be a stud forever. With CP3, the Cavs will remain competitive and his playoff savvy may matter more in clutch situations than Irving’s youthful talent (although Irving did hit the clutch shot in Game 7)
