Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, as excited as the executive is to land former league MVP Russell Westbrook, wasn't too happy on the projected outlook during trade negotiations.
Setting camp with the top brass of Houston's management at a Las Vegas bar during the NBA's Summer League, Morey and the Rockets finally arranged for a deal to acquire the star point guard in exchange for 34-year-old Chris Paul and picks. However, that didn't mean it came with a little to a lot of stress for Morey.
Via Jonathan Feigen in the Houston Chronicle:
Morey has been with the Rockets organization since 2006 and was named GM in 2007. Despite a decade-plus with the organization, this summer's move may have been his biggest gamble—and it doesn't come as a coincidence it was pulled off while residing in Vegas.
At another point in the negotiations, Morey believed the Westbrook-Paul core discussion “didn't seem that there would be a fit for both parties.”
Despite cropping Paul from the team, it didn't come easy for Morey.
Paul and the Rockets were defeated in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals before again losing the Golden State Warriors the next year in the second round of the playoffs.