3 reasons why the Rockets lost the Russell Westbrook trade

Russell Westbrook’s apparent request to be traded from the Houston Rockets is the final nail in the coffin on the winner of the trade involving him and Chris Paul.

Several reports have come out recently that indicate Russell Westbrook is no longer enthused to be on the Houston Rockets and would like the team to trade him. If we can safely assume all of this is true, then what many fans have believed since the trade for Westbrook first occurred can now be asserted without question.

As we all know, in the offseason of 2019, the Houston Rockets traded Chris Paul and several first-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook. At the time, the Houston fanbase was relatively divided, with some fans embracing the trade and others despairing over it.

It would appear that the latter half of the fanbase was correct to be upset because this trade has clearly proven to be a failure. There are a few reasons for this, starting with the results of its one year.

Next: No. 3

3. Chris Paul was more dependable in 2019-20

One of the primary ideas behind the trade was that the Rockets were getting a player with a higher ceiling and who was more durable. After all, Westbrook was an MVP as recently as 2017, having averaged a triple-double in three straight seasons.

This was not an unreasonable perspective, as Chris Paul appeared to be showing signs of decline at the time, and his age was a reasonable culprit to point to. Add on reports of tension between James Harden and Paul, and the Rockets found themselves in a strange position.

Paul also saw many injuries throughout his time in Houston, causing much frustration for the organization and its fans. It was imagined that Russell Westbrook would be able to play more games than CP3, which would help Houston in the regular season and would give the team a better sense of security for the postseason.

Unfortunately for Houston, the situation was misjudged considerably, as evidenced by the 2019-20 season. Not only was Westbrook coming off of surgery to start the season, load-managed on back-to-backs, and missed several playoff games, but Paul had quite the bounce-back season in OKC.

In bitterly poetic fashion, the two teams finished with the same record and even saw each other in the playoffs, where the Rockets defeated the Thunder in seven games by the skin of their teeth. This is despite OKC being predicted to miss the playoffs and the Rockets being considered a title-contender by many.

Chris Paul looked like his 2017-18 self for the majority of the 2019-20 season, including in the playoffs against the Rockets. Meanwhile, Westbrook had a shaky start to the regular season but showed a lot of promise by the end, only to have a disastrous playoff performance.

Despite giving many fans a reason to believe he would look different in the postseason in Rockets Red, Westbrook devolved into ugly habits that played a large role in Houston’s meek performance against the Lakers in the second round. While some of this could be chalked up to injury and a COVID-19 recovery, the end result is the same nevertheless.

At times, Harden and Russ appeared to have a good deal of chemistry and the Brodie looked like a decent fit on the Rockets. However, it is a difficult stance to hold that the fit ever looked as natural as it did with CP3.

While the argument could be made that Westbrook had a superior regular season statistically as compared to Paul, Paul had the much better playoff performance. On the court player-to-player, Westbrook was not as good for the Rockets as Paul would have been this season.

Next: No. 2

2. Westbrook didn’t last more than one year for the Houston Rockets

Another of the most significant reasons for the trade was the age of the two players. With Chris Paul being roughly three years older than Westbrook, it was believed that Westbrook expanded the Rockets’ window due to having him in his prime longer than Paul.

The Rockets clearly saw Paul’s 2018-19 season as the start of a decline, and his age was likely the primary suspect. At the time, they thought that getting Westbrook would keep another star in his prime beside Harden for a few years longer.

Now that Westbrook will almost certainly be traded before the start of the 2020-21 season, this potential advantage is entirely gone.

Before the reports of a trade request, there was still an argument to be made that this was only what year one looked like and that it still remains to be seen where Westbrook and Paul are as players over the next few years. Perhaps the upcoming season will see Westbrook retain the majority of his prime while Paul sees the first year of a permanent decline.

In a world where Westbrook stayed on the Rockets for the entire length of his contract, the Rockets could potentially have looked better on their end of the trade by the time it was in its latter half. But regardless of how Westbrook and Paul look in the next few years, it does not matter for the Rockets anyway.

Because one year is the only sample size that the Rockets will have for this trade, all of its future implications are now irrelevant. In the one season that the Houston Rockets had Westbrook, they advanced no further in the playoffs than the previous season and did not even come within arms-reach of a championship.

Next: No. 1

1. The Houston Rockets’ asset-well is dry as a result

The Rockets loss in this trade may have been more disputable or at the very least, not looked quite as drastic had they only done a straight swap of Paul for Westbrook. However, they lost more than just the Point-God in the deal.

In addition to Chris Paul, the Rockets tacked on their 2024 and 2026 first-round picks as well as pick-swaps in 2021 and 2025. That is quite the haul for a player that did not bring vast improvements in the end.

It also means that acquiring pieces to surround James Harden going forward is considerably more difficult, especially considering Westbrook’s gargantuan contract and diminished value in the league. If the Rockets decide to trade Harden as well, they could possibly make up for some of these losses.

But as it stands now, the Rockets have expressed no interest in trading Harden and reports claim that Harden remains committed to the team for this upcoming season. Additionally, even if trading Harden did occur and did result in regaining some assets, that does not speak to the result of the Westbrook-Paul trade.

Not only did the Houston Rockets fall substantially short of their goals in the trade, but they also shot themselves in the foot as far as draft assets are concerned.

There really is no reasonable ground on which to argue that the Houston Rockets won the Westbrook-Paul trade, or even that it was a win for both sides. The Thunder had a competitive season that highly exceeded expectations and have set themselves up for an impressive rebuild.

Meanwhile, the Rockets had a disappointing season, made future pursuits incredibly difficult, and will never see what remained of the potential benefits of the trade come to fruition.

Many fans said it the day the trade happened, but it is time to officially pound the gavel: the Rockets definitively lost this one.