NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Russell Westbrook and Raptors' Vets
The 2019 NBA offseason's spotlight has zipped around from one superstar to the next.
After Kawhi Leonard convinced Paul George to join him in Los Angeles, the summer's bright lights have now found their way to Russell Westbrook, a solo star stranded in the Sooner State (for now).
The former MVP is as polarizing as elite players come, since he's wildly productive, worryingly inefficient and problematically pricey.
That's made him perhaps the Association's most fascinating trade candidate, and his murky market shows it. We'll get to the latest on that and the world champs' post-Kawhi plans below.
Heat, Thunder Talking Westbrook, While Other Suitors Are Hard To Find
Westbrook earned MVP honors in 2016-17 after joining Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only players to ever average a triple-double.
Then, the Brodie messed around and averaged a triple-double in the next two seasons, too.
Surely, teams are tripping over themselves to acquire him now that the Thunder are receptive to trade offers, right? Not exactly.
Almost not at all, in fact.
The Miami Heat are interested and the prolific point guard is interested in them, too, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. But while they have discussed deals with the Thunder, "indications are the Heat would prefer not to include Bam Adebayo or [rookie Tyler] Herro," per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
The Heat would like to do a deal where they "merely shed contracts of players not in its long-term plans," per Jackson, who noted "it's questionable if the Thunder would go for that."
While OKC surely wants some kind of asset in return for its franchise player, it also wants to cut costs to lower (or eliminate) its luxury tax hit. That's an issue, since Miami is precariously close to bumping into its $138.9 million hard cap.
Finding a third team to help make the money work would be ideal, but almost every team has already utilized its cap space in free agency. Not to mention, the timing isn't great, since most players signed this summer can't be traded for months.
But if Westbrook isn't bound for South Beach, where would he go?
The Detroit Pistons are "lukewarm" on a deal, sources told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, no doubt due to the fact the 30-year-old is still owed $171.1 million over the next four seasons.
Westbrook isn't on the New York Knicks' radar now and it's "highly doubtful" he will be later, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Athletic's Josh Robins dubbed it "very, very unlikely" the Orlando Magic would be interested.
The Phoenix Suns just gave Ricky Rubio $51 million, so you can probably cross them off the list (for now, at least). The Minnesota Timberwolves might make sense, but only if the Thunder deem Andrew Wiggins a worthy reclamation project. The Houston Rockets are always in the market for stars, but they've been labeled a "long shot" given the complexities of a potential swap, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
It feels like this ends with Westbrook heading to South Beach, but good luck figuring out how the actual transaction is going to look.
Leonard-Less Raptors Aren't Planning Teardown, Yet
When Leonard left the world champion Toronto Raptors at the altar, the ramifications were ominous to say the least.
For starters, they lost their best player on both ends, the Finals MVP who could put up 30 points a night and silence the opposition's top scorer. Plus, ace three-and-D swingman Danny Green followed Leonard out the door and took up with the new-look Los Angeles Lakers.
The carnage could've extended well beyond those two, though. Toronto's three highest-paid players—all pocketing salaries north of $23 million—are only signed through next season. Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol are also on the wrong side of 30, and Serge Ibaka will be before the 2019-20 campaign tips.
A massive overhaul could be coming, but that's not in the works yet. The Raptors "have no intention of moving" the aforementioned trio—"at least not before the season," sources told TSN's Josh Lewenberg. Team president Masai Ujiri "will give this group an opportunity to sink or swim before choosing a path and deciding what comes next."
While Toronto has enough left to fight for one of the East's top four seeds, a return to the Finals looks highly unlikely. It will be interesting to see how the Raptors start and how the front office views that.
With only $16.3 million of guaranteed money on the 2020-21 books, the champs might look dramatically different in the (relatively) near future.
