Somebody gave Pat Riley an injection of adrenaline.
First, the complicated Jimmy Butler trade. Now, Russell Westbrook...Russell Westbrook? According to Adrian Wojnarowski “The Heat are a team to watch..." in trading for Russ.
The thinking goes that from Oklahoma City's perspective, having lost Kevin Durant a couple of years ago and Paul George today, yesterday, Saturday, does it make sense to keep Westbrook and the $171,139,920 they owe him through 2023 to team up with...Steven Adams? That question does not have to be answered. Woj also reports that Russ and his agent are meeting with OKC management to figure out a trade. So, the thinking continues, OKC is going to transition to full rebuild mode and might be tempted to unload Russ and that $171 mil for say, Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard, Leonard Meyers, and Justise Winslow. That is a trade that would work for Miami's salary cap (salaries have to match) but would add $5 mil to the "Thunder's." Which seems pretty paltry in context. "There will be others" (suitors for Westbrook) as Woj went on to say. Westbrook is only 30 and is a superstar. From Miami's perspective, well, as Nate Scott of USAToday wrote Saturday, "Gaze upon it, Pat Riley. IT’S SITTING RIGHT THERE."
First, the complicated Jimmy Butler trade. Now, Russell Westbrook...Russell Westbrook? According to Adrian Wojnarowski “The Heat are a team to watch..." in trading for Russ.
The thinking goes that from Oklahoma City's perspective, having lost Kevin Durant a couple of years ago and Paul George today, yesterday, Saturday, does it make sense to keep Westbrook and the $171,139,920 they owe him through 2023 to team up with...Steven Adams? That question does not have to be answered. Woj also reports that Russ and his agent are meeting with OKC management to figure out a trade. So, the thinking continues, OKC is going to transition to full rebuild mode and might be tempted to unload Russ and that $171 mil for say, Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard, Leonard Meyers, and Justise Winslow. That is a trade that would work for Miami's salary cap (salaries have to match) but would add $5 mil to the "Thunder's." Which seems pretty paltry in context. "There will be others" (suitors for Westbrook) as Woj went on to say. Westbrook is only 30 and is a superstar. From Miami's perspective, well, as Nate Scott of USAToday wrote Saturday, "Gaze upon it, Pat Riley. IT’S SITTING RIGHT THERE."
