NBA Rumors: Latest Rumblings on Russell Westbrook's Return and Potential Deals
One of the NBA's most dynamic players is inching closer to this return to the court. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook could be less than two weeks away from returning to his team.
Westbrook had a second procedure on his injured knee during the offseason, but Wojnarowski reports the knee is responding well.
Originally, Westbrook was supposed to miss the first six to eight weeks of the season, but if this new timetable holds true, he'll be back in the middle of November. That has to be music to Thunder fans' ears. This team is simply not a legit championship contender without Westbrook in the lineup.
The sooner he gets back and up to speed, the sooner we'll see what type of team the Thunder will be this season.
Aside from the return of an All-star, there are also rumblings about potential trades and offseason deals that almost didn't happen. Here's the latest:
Omer Asik Staying Put for Now
The Houston Rockets are wise to hold on to Omer Asik while they experiment with playing the Turkish seven-footer alongside Dwight Howard in the starting lineup. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Rockets are fine with ignoring Asik's offseason trade request as long as the team's twin tower experiment works out.
Per the report, the team would have to be floored by an offer to consider moving Asik now.
On opening night, the two bigs were a hit as they combined for 21 points, 40 rebounds and four blocked shots against the Charlotte Bobcats. To put this in perspective, the Bobcats had just 37 rebounds as a team.
This was just one game, and it was just the Bobcats, but it is still an impressive debut for what could be a dominant frontcourt.
If Asik continues to thrive next to Howard, we may not hear that trade request repeated.
Los Angeles Clippers Owner Wanted to Call Off Eric Bledsoe Trade
Per Wojnarowski, Clippers' owner Donald Sterling instructed team president Andy Roeser to call off the three-team deal that ultimately sent Bledsoe to the Phoenix Suns and landed J.J. Redick with the Clips.
New head coach Doc Rivers had recruited Redick hard, and he stood to look bad if the deal was nixed. Wojnarowski writes:
""Sterling had been fond of Bledsoe. He was young, explosive, impactful on the Clippers' second unit. Some believed too, that Sterling stereotyped Redick and didn't want to pay $27 million for a bench player."
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Per the report, had Sterling not come around, Rivers could have threatened to resign, but things obviously never came to that. The deal was made, and this can simply be one of those stories NBA fans and historians look back on.
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