Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey pounced on the opportunity when Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook became available for trade. Morey acquired Westbrook in exchange for 34-year old point guard Chris Paul and some draft picks.
Of course, no one on the Rockets was more excited about the trade than Russ' former teammate with the Thunder, James Harden. According to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, Harden even asked Morey why the deal for his close buddy took so long to happen.
Instead, Morey and Presti collaborated on their second blockbuster together, reuniting Westbrook and Harden nearly seven years after the trade that sent Harden to Houston. “At one point, James asked me, ‘Why is it taking so long?'” Morey said. “I told him, ‘Dude, your trade took me five months.'”
Nearly seven years after Morey and Thunder GM Sam Presti made arguably the most important deal of the decade – the James Harden trade – the two constructed another one to reunite the two former teammates in Houston. According to the report by Feigen, the deal nearly took six days to come to fruition.
Morey didn't believe they could actually pull off a deal for the 2016-17 MVP when he became available in trade talks following the Paul George deal earlier this month. Nevertheless, Morey did all that he could to eventually pair the two MVPs once again.
There are plenty of questions whether Westbrook and Harden can still coexist, especially after becoming the two most ball-dominant players in the league following their separation. The two, however, downplayed those concerns and are looking forward to playing alongside once again this upcoming season.
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