When the Houston Rockets announced that they had successfully acquired the services of former MVP Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for veteran point guard Chris Paul and draft picks, rumors instantly began circling about James Harden's involvement in the said deal.
There were stories that talked about Harden and Paul's unsavory relationship, with some outlets even saying that the former may have pushed for the latter's exit. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has shed some light into this nasty rumor, contextually denying it. As a matter of fact, Morey says that while Harden did hold a desire to bring Westbrook to Houston, Harden wanted to do so without having to trade away Paul.
Via Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“Yeah, a lot of teamwork. I mean, with James at a high (communication) level, and obviously he felt like (Westbrook) could be a good fit here. He was curious if there was a way to do it where we could keep everyone and not have to give up anything (laughs). Unfortunately the math of the deal required Chris going out, unfortunately.”
Morey further clarified Harden's desires and the role the 2018 MVP played in these trade talks:
“Yeah, because I mean his mind is always (going) first to ‘How (can we be) completely stacked?’ So I had to sort of explain,” Morey said. “He gets it roughly, but obviously he leaves the details to us. Besides the high level (talks) where he thought that Russ would be a great fit here, there’s not a ton of interaction after that point. He knows there’s a back and forth, just like we respect what he does I think he respects what we do and he sort of leaves the execution to us.
This is all water under the bridge now, though, and the new Harden-Westbrook partnership does appear to be quite a hit and should only get better as they find their chemistry again. Harden and Westbrook excelled together with the Oklahoma City Thunder back in the day, and while their games have changed, they're so talented they should be able to figure it out and enjoy a lot of success.
The Rockets, currently 1-1 to start the season, are slated to face off against Paul and the Thunder on Monday night in what should be a very interesting contest.
Editor's note: This post was updated to include more context on the trade and Morey's comments.
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