Tactical unit wrote:I think the fact that Westbrook himself has really only shown interest in MIA so far is what makes it more likely for him to end up in MIA. They would like to send Westbrook to a team he wants to go to and extract a decent amount of value in doing so. If Westbrook comes out saying he'd have interest in going to other teams then maybe MIA has to up the price but right now that's the only team I have heard about him having interest in.
I definitely agree that where Westbrook wants to go will be a significant factor in determining where he ends up. Miami appears to be a team Westbrook would like to be traded to. There are probably others as well. I would think he's want to go to teams that with him added would have a good chance of contending for a Conference championship. But I think he's also limit his preferences to teams that would be a good fit for him - position, age and culture. In other words, he'd probably like to go to a team whose other core players are of a similar age and have a similar tough, highly competitive mentality. Miami fits all those criteria, so it's not surprising that he'd be interested in going there now that the Heat have Butler.
Several factors would likely give Miami the edge over most if not all the other teams Westbrook might be interested.
First, Miami's interest level is probably particularly high given the fact that Miami absolutely needs another star to go with Butler if they want to be a contender, yet Miami can only get such a player via trade given that they have no cap room to add a star through free agency. And they've already traded away half their future 1st round draft picks so they're certainly not poised to rebuild or retool through the draft. And when it comes to trade opportunities, it's rare to for a star like Westbrook in his prime to be available in the trade market.
Second, Westbrook is Pat Riley's kind of player - like Jimmy Butler. Pat pursued Butler for nearly a year and eventually got him. There's a window of opportunity to get a similar type of player in Westbrook and Pat won't want to miss it.
I know Miami can't offer OKC immediate cap relief. But no potentially contending team is currently positioned to offer meaningful cap relief as part of a Westbrook deal. Certainly the Wolves can't.