Minnesota Sports Forum

TheGrey08 wrote:"Timberwolves get: Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson

Thunder get: Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague, Josh Okogie."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/cbkqj6/espn_nba_insiders_six_big_russell_westbrook/

I guess it's not just random fans kicking trade ideas around.

This is a no-brainer if you're Minnesota.

Camden wrote:

TheGrey08 wrote:"Timberwolves get: Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson

Thunder get: Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague, Josh Okogie."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/cbkqj6/espn_nba_insiders_six_big_russell_westbrook/

I guess it's not just random fans kicking trade ideas around.

This is a no-brainer if you're Minnesota.

No question the Wolves would have to do that deal. But I don't see OKC doing that deal. If those other deals were actually on the table, would OKC choose the suggested Wolves deal over any of them? If so which one(s)? If I were OKC and had all these choices, the only one I'd pass on for the Wolves deal would be the Nuggets deal, which makes no sense for the Thunder as they enter full rebuild mode.

I'll add that, even though I think the Wolves would have to do that deal, it's worth considering whether Westbrook would be a good fit. He's a poor three-point shooter and not an efficient scorer. He's 7 years older than the one current allstar (KAT) he'd be paired with. And he doesn't seem to be a positive force for team chemistry. You have to ask yourself whether trading for Westbrook could be a repeat of the Butler mistake as a player who is not going to be mentally in synch with what would be an otherwise much younger team.

Camden0916 wrote:

TheGrey08 wrote:"Timberwolves get: Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson

Thunder get: Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague, Josh Okogie."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/cbkqj6/espn_nba_insiders_six_big_russell_westbrook/

I guess it's not just random fans kicking trade ideas around.

This is a no-brainer if you're Minnesota.

Yeah, that's hard to say no to.

Here's an interesting report from the Detroit Free Press:

"I asked multiple team scouts and executives for their thoughts on Westbrook the past two days. Not one of them showed much interest, with one saying: 'It's hard to see a natural fit around the league.' When I shared that intel with another league source Tuesday morning, he joked: 'Keep looking.' - via Detroit Free Press"

So maybe the market for Westbrook isn't as strong as we might be thinking.

lipoli390 wrote:Here's an interesting report from the Detroit Free Press:

"I asked multiple team scouts and executives for their thoughts on Westbrook the past two days. Not one of them showed much interest, with one saying: 'It's hard to see a natural fit around the league.' When I shared that intel with another league source Tuesday morning, he joked: 'Keep looking.' - via Detroit Free Press"

So maybe the market for Westbrook isn't as strong as we might be thinking.

Apparently, the heat dont want to include herro or bam.

But again that could just be riley posturing.

crazy-canuck wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Here's an interesting report from the Detroit Free Press:

"I asked multiple team scouts and executives for their thoughts on Westbrook the past two days. Not one of them showed much interest, with one saying: 'It's hard to see a natural fit around the league.' When I shared that intel with another league source Tuesday morning, he joked: 'Keep looking.' - via Detroit Free Press"

So maybe the market for Westbrook isn't as strong as we might be thinking.

Apparently, the heat dont want to include herro or bam.

But again that could just be riley posturing.

That's Riley posturing. I have no doubt he is drooling at the thought of getting Westbrook. He won't give up both Herro and Bam, but he'll definitely give up one or the other if that's what it takes to get Westbrook. In the end, I think it will be Bam who gets included in a Westbrook deal.

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.

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.

lipoli390 wrote:

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.

Im guessing miami is going to off something like Dragic, Johnson, and one of bam or herro.

Wolves could give something similar in teague, Dieng, and Okogie or even culver if they wanted to beeat that Heat offer. Same years and same money.

crazy-canuck wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

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.

Im guessing miami is going to off something like Dragic, Johnson, and one of bam or herro.

Wolves could give something similar in teague, Dieng, and Okogie or even culver if they wanted to beeat that Heat offer. Same years and same money.

That's my guess too.