The Oklahoma City Thunder were reportedly preparing to trade superstar point guard Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2020 prior to the Paul George trade to the Los Angeles Clippers this summer, according to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report.
Once George demanded a trade from the Thunder to the Clippers, OKC's front office knew it had to trade Westbrook this offseason instead of next summer. The Thunder agreed to a deal with the Houston Rockets, reuniting Westbrook with James Harden in Houston.
The clock was already ticking loudly on the Westbrook era, with team officials quietly preparing to hit the reset button next summer, per sources, after one more run. George's surprise trade request simply accelerated the process—and freed the Thunder to make the moves they knew were overdue for a team that couldn't win a playoff series.
The Thunder have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each year since Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors.
It looks like OKC was going to see if Russell Westbrook and Paul George had one last run in them in 2019-20 before blowing it up. George's trade request merely accelerated the rebuild process.
The Thunder are now looking for a trade partner for veteran point guard Chris Paul, who has three years left on his monster contract.
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