Rockets will soon be free from their years-long Russell Westbrook nightmare

The Houston Rockets made one of the worst trades in NBA history when they sent Chris Paul, two first-round picks, and two pick swaps to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Russell Westbrook.

I'd call it the worst trade of all time, but the deal that sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a metric ton of picks to the Thunder for Paul George was worse. What kind of dark magic did Sam Presti employ at that time? How was he the only NBA general manager to understand the trade market five years ago?

I digress. The Rockets attached significant draft capital to the Thunder, and arguably didn't get the best player in the trade. It was ugly.

It's almost over.

Rockets about to send last pick to the Thunder from the Westbrook trade

In the 2026 draft, the Rockets will send their pick to the Thunder if it falls outside the top 4. We all know it will, so the Thunder effectively owns the Rockets' pick.

If the season ended today, the Rockets would send the Thunder the 27th selection. That's not a big deal - it's an inconsequential asset.

Still, it's the principle of the matter. Sending the Thunder first-rounders just feels wrong - especially when they draft so well. The Thunder can use any pick to add a solid rotation player at a minimum. So, we can rejoice that they won't be doing it at the Rockets' expense for long.

It's just too bad that they had to in the first place.

Rockets' Westbrook trade will forever live in infamy

Hindsight is 20/20. It's easy to criticize a deal after seeing how it worked out.

Although some fans knew this was a stinker the moment the news broke.

The fit between Westbrook and Harden was always suboptimal. Fans cried "there's only one ball!" when the Rockets acquired Paul, but with Westbrook's inability to shoot, it was true when he was next to Harden.

Yet, there's nothing to regret here.

Who knows? If the Rockets hadn't made this deal, they may have acquired Ben Simmons in exchange for Harden instead of taking the Nets' cache of draft picks. They had little draft capital left, and so to rebuild, they knew they needed to acquire as much as possible.

It has worked out well. They say that if you time-travel, you can't change anything. You don't know what chain of events you may alter for the worse. So, there's no reason for the Rockets to regret this deal:

But they can be glad that its consequences are finally coming to an end.