The Oklahoma City Thunder was forced to trade the Russell Westbrook franchise icon on the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2019, after Paul George requested a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers.
Westbrook, the best player in the history of the Thunder franchise, was swapped with the Rockets on July 16, 2019, for Chris Paul and a handful of draft choices.
But before Thunder chief executive Sam Presti swapped Westbrook to Houston, OKC had Russ-centered trade talks with three other teams.
The Thunder spoke to Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors about a Westbrook trade. However, nothing ever materialized and Westbrook ended up being shipped to Houston, where he reunited with James Harden.
Presti tried to trade George and Westbrook with the Raptors, but the talks never gained ground, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The raptors did not want to part with the rising star Pascal Siakam. If Presti had been able to make a deal for George with the Raptors – and Kawhi Leonard was willing to stay – George felt willing to join Toronto.
In the end though, Leonard and George got their wishes and are now playing at home in California together on the Clippers.
Pat Riley and The Heat really wanted to acquire Westbrook and pair it with the little All-Star forward Jimmy Butler. Miami believed that Westbrook’s elite skills and relentless competitiveness fit what a Heat wants a player, according to Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
However, the Heat didn’t want to part with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, two players Thunder asked for in exchange for Westbrook.
The Pistons, who had the power of All-Star Blake Griffin coming out in a flag year, had a lukewarm interest in acquiring Westbrook from the Thunder, according to Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit could have hypothetically swapped Reggie Jackson, Tony Snell, Luke Kennard and multiple choices for the Westbrook project, but the Pistons never seriously attempted to swap with the former MVP.
Prior to the 2019-20 season suspended in March due to COVID-19, Westbrook averaged 27.5 points, 8.0 boards and 7.0 assists in 53 games for the Rockets. The future Hall-of-Famer was also shooting at 47.4 percent from the field, 25.4 percent over the bow and 77.7 percent from the free throw line.
Moving forward, Russell Westbrook will earn $ 41,358,814 in 2020-21 and $ 44,211,146 in 2021-22. He has a player option worth $ 47,063,478 for the 2022-23 season.
