Russell Westbrook said all the right things throughout his introductory news conference the other day in fact, he had been doing the right things since the first week of free agency; erstwhile All-Star partner Paul George bolted for the Clippers, and the record haul the Thunder received in return placed them in prime position to reboot their roster. In support of this one-step-back-now-for-two-steps-ahead-later effort, he worked with the front office to engineer a transfer to the Rockets vice point god Chris Paul and even more draft picks. As he noted, it was a move both he and resident top dog James Harden angled for. “I only care about one team, and that’s the Houston Rockets.”
To be sure, Westbrook said and did all the right things before, and it got him nowhere near his goal of claiming a championship. If anything, it’s precisely because of the back-to-back first-round exits that George suffered from buyer’s remorse just a year removed from re-upping with the Thunder. With fellow marquee names seemingly unable — or ultimately unwilling — to share the court with him, the read on him wasn’t pretty: He’s too set in his ways to adjust his game to complement those of others, never mind that his very strengths appear to suck the air out of friend and foe alike.
Nonetheless, Westbrook insisted the other day that his time with the Rockets will be different. For all the knock on his pairing with Harden in light of their pacesetting usage rates, he insisted that they won’t have a problem sharing the ball. “We’ve been friends for many, many years — since I was 10, actually,” he disclosed. “We both understand that we have a common goal, and that’s to win a championship. We understand what we have to do.” To backstop his claim, he pointed out that “I can play off the ball. I don’t have to touch the ball to impact the game. That’s the best way for me to come in and impact this team.”
Based on the numbers, perhaps not. The notion of Westbrook benefiting from Harden’s court vision presupposes that he can knock down open jumpers off the pass. Unfortunately, he possesses a shaky stroke that advanced metrics have pegged to be historically abhorrent. Moreover, he has exhibited an alarming tendency to loaf whenever he doesn’t have the ball, allowing defenders to all but ignore him completely — potentially cramping his longtime buddy’s space to create. Still and all, he deserves props for his willingness to sacrifice.
Insofar as the Rockets were angling for addition by subtraction, Westbrook’s arrival cannot but be seen as a boon. Paul has worn out his welcome, and needed to be shown the door if for no other reason than to appease Harden. Mission accomplished. The questions now are: For what? Will it get them closer to the title? Only time will tell.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
