It's the end of an era for Oklahoma City. Westbrook was the one constant over the last 11 years for the Thunder and it's going to be weird watching games and not seeing him there.
The trade itself doesn't seem that great, but I guess Westbrook told Presti that he only wanted to go to the Rockets and this is the best they could get. One less year of salary and a couple of late first round picks is okay for Westbrook's supposedly "unmovable contract".
I don't like Chris Paul very much at all, so I hope Presti sends him somewhere for some expiring contracts asap.
One positive that hasn't been mentioned much about the George and Westbrook trades is that the Thunder will now become worse and thus likely regain two of their own first round picks.
https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status ... 5997350915Need to factor in that with the recent trades, OKC will likely retain the 2020 first (top 20 protected to Philly) and 2022 first (top 14 protected to Atlanta).
From 2020 to 2026: 15 first-round picks and the swap rights in 4 years.
So their own picks for the next few years are now much more valuable and they added 8 new first round picks.
They could theoretically package up some picks to trade for a young star player and still have a first rounder to use each year. It's good flexibility to have.