Funny what a difference a week makes. Last week, Paul George went to the L.A. Clippers for a truckload of first round picks that would make former 76ers GM Sam Hinkie envious. Now after asking for a trade, Russell Westbrook (The Heart and Soul, The Face of the Franchise, The Backbone, The Man of Oklahoma City) is now gone. Traded to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and a slew of draft picks and he can reunite with James Harden and everything can be chummy again. Yet, here lies the problem. Both men want the ball at all times. Both want to be the leader of the team. And both are stat-padders. If there is one coach that can make it work, it is Mike D'Antoni. 

Earlier, I did a blog about the Rockets' desperate attempt to dethrone the Warriors and the many moves they made to make that attempt successful. My issue with this is that GM Daryl Morey just showed his hand when the organization denied that Chris Paul and James Harden were at odds. It also was head-scratching giving Paul a huge contract in mid-30's who is injury prone. As the Warriors seem to not be as lethal as before, the Rockets gambled. Plain and simple. Houston's championship window is near closure due to the moves to accommodate Harden and there is no room for error as several Western teams have improved during the off-season.

For Westbrook and Harden, everything seems great now and they are saying the right things about the trade, but once they hit the court, will it last? Both are considered "ballhogs" and predicate their games with them having the ball at all times. Will it work? It can, but both have to realize that they could feed off each other to make this tandem dangerous. 

So the winner of this trade is: Thunder GM Sam Presti. Presti didn't get the haul as the Paul George trade, but he got more picks and CP3 (who the Thunder are looking to buy out) to build the franchise for the future. The writing was on the wall for this team and once Westbrook wanted out, Presti was more than able to move Westbrook. 

For a player who spent more than a decade in OKC, Westbrook left his mark in the city and many fans there have thanked him for everything he has done for the franchise. As he embarks on his next chapter of his career, Westbrook will team with his backcourt mate in OKC and it should be an interesting combo for the Rockets. Just like this off-season, interesting.

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