The trade for Russell Westbrook was one felt across the Western Conference, as another team loaded up ahead of this 2019-20 season while several executives questioned how it even came to be.
The pairing of Westbrook and franchise star James Harden has been met with plenty of skepticism, with questions regarding whether a Harden-Westbrook partnership could work — seven years removed from their last stint together as up-and-coming stars in the league — still remaining. Rockets executives are not that concerned, following the same motto they used when acquiring Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, disregarding the natural fit altogether:
“It’s our job to bring in the most talented people, and make it work,” a team executive told Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Team executives figure Westbrook and Harden match up better than the pairing between Paul and Harden, as the two are hitting their prime right at the same time.
Houston, in its never-ending quest of amassing talent, sees Westbrook as “immensely talented.” The Rockets now believe he can play to his strengths and still be successful next to Harden, despite the two being high-usage, ball-dominant, iso-excelling players.
Only time will tell if this works out with that elusive championship after Paul fell just short of the NBA Finals and Anthony's acquisition resulted in disaster.
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