This trade was fairly simple. Jerry West won it in the sense that the Clippers are now the Vegas favorite to win their first ever title in the history of the sometimes laughable LA Clippers of Donald Sterling past.
However…long term the Oklahoma City Thunder in this trade found their point guard of the future and new face of the franchise who will lead the reset in Oklahoma City moving forward.
I’m totally calm. I’m actually happy Sam Presti pulled the trigger even if means the Thunder miss the playoffs the next two seasons. The Russell Westbrook contract is the second worse in the NBA only behind John Wall’s and it has to be dealt with like our national debt should have been dealt with two decades ago.
Ask yourself this moving forward in regard to Russell Westbrook…he didn’t win a ring with Durant in a decade and he didn’t win a round in two seasons with Paul George…what possible move to you want Presti to make to remedy these facts with that contract choking the Thunder’s future. Maybe he can take Little Nick Gallo with him and it’s a Disney happy ending for all.
I certainly have no malice for Paul George at all. He’s from California and he’s at the point in his career the championship clock is ticking much like it was for Kevin Durant. I will remain a Paul George fan and wish him the best.
And in my heart, I feel the same for Russell Westbrook minus the ridiculous episodes we witnessed in the post game pressers this season with his pal Little Nick Gallo.
I hope Sam Presti gets some assets for Russell beyond just dumping the second worse contract in the NBA and I hope maybe he finds another young core piece for the Thunder moving forward.
For me—the Thunder core moving forward is SGA, Steven Adams, Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson. Most think Danilo Galanari is just a temporary asset piece, but I’m actually curious to see how the Big Gallo might fit with these guys given the Thunder’s need for three point shooting.
Then there’s the slew of draft picks and the swap options and the return of first round picks from Philly and Atlanta in the Jerami Grant and Carmelo Anthony trades which come back to the Thunder if they don’t reach the playoffs by certain timelines.
Russell Westbrook will be fine. He has four years remaining on his contract with $171 million still to be paid. This deal just didn’t work, much like the Mike Conley deal in Memphis didn’t work.
In the matter of another July 4th weekend, the face of the Thunder and the NBA changed dramatically as it did in 2016.
The Clippers and the Lakers are the Vegas favorites to win the West and the O’Brien Trophy. The Utah Jazz are the team Doris Burke has circled on her most improved list of teams. The Western Conference pecking order changed in a big way, but we in Oklahoma City already knew what Jerry West was capable of doing behind the scenes.
I’m actually good because while I don’t know if the window will reopen like it did in 2012 for the Oklahoma City Thunder…I do feel there will be quality NBA basketball moving into the next eight or nine years.