Cavs wouldn’t have been wise to accept a HOU Russell Westbrook trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets previously reportedly discussed a trade centered on Russell Westbrook.

It’s pretty clear to me that for the Cleveland Cavaliers next season/looking onward, internal growth should be their priority. The development of young pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. is essential for Cleveland in the near and long-term future.

The Cavs understand that, too, although Cleveland still having a piece such as Kevin Love shouldn’t be just traded away just for the sake of that. And the Cavs reportedly still value Love in the highest regard, and they seemingly feel as though Love can help those youngsters in their progression, which is understandable.

But the bottom line is that again, for Cleveland at least this next season, the growth of young players is crucial. In that realm, the Cavs shouldn’t try to short-circuit their rebuild by potentially giving up key young players and/or future draft capital just to try to make the postseason as a low seed, or maybe just give up Love for not a whole lot, realistically, in return.

Granted, before the 2020 NBA Draft, Sean Deveney of Heavy.com did report in a then-mock draft how the Cavs are/were “eager to dump” Love. But again, while the Kevin Love trade rumors are seemingly always out there, it’s no secret that the Cavaliers value him more than anybody. And per a prior report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, the Cavs aren’t simply looking to trade Love just to essentially trade Love/dump him.

That said, perhaps Love or Andre Drummond, whose due to make $28.7 million this next season after picking up his player option for it, were maybe discussed as a piece, among other players/maybe assets to be included in a trade for Russell Westbrook?

That’s due to how Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported on Complex Sports’ Load Management podcast recently that the Houston Rockets contacted the Cavs during the week of the draft about a possible Westbrook trade, as h/t Alec Sturm of Nets Republic. Sturm noted how per Charania, though, and clearly, the “Rockets’ price was not met.”

https://t.co/evoqg3pXeN
— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) December 1, 2020

Thank goodness Houston’s price for Westbrook wasn’t met by the Cavs.

Charania noted/reported in that Load Management episode how the Rockets contacted “several” teams, including the Cavaliers about a potential trade centered on Westbrook during Draft Week and/or Free Agency Week.

But he didn’t really specify if there was/how much interest the Cavs potentially had/would’ve had in a Russ-centric deal. And considering Shams didn’t hit on it too much other than the Rockets reached out/initiated it, I wouldn’t imagine it’d seem like much interest; there was not a proposed deal stated, either, for what it’s worth.

That’s in regards to it perhaps being Love or Drummond and/or potential assets/pick swaps included, etc., anyhow. Plus, frankly, I wouldn’t expect Cavs general manager Koby Altman, factoring in Cleveland’s draft investments in Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and to some extent, Kevin Porter Jr. in the 2018 and 2019 drafts, would have seriously entertained trading for Westbrook.

In any case, one would assume Love would’ve had to be included in a potential package, due to salary-matching, and Drummond, realistically, is not close to the value of player Westbrook clearly, nor Love, are.

And in terms of a potential return for Westbrook, Houston general manager Rafael Stone and the Houston organization is dug-in, and while both Westbrook and James Harden reportedly want to be traded, it looks as though Houston is ready for a stalemate, if need be.

Here was what Charania said on that pod appearance about a return for seemingly Harden and/or Westbrook, as transcribed by Sam Amico of Amicohoopsnews.com and Sports Illustrated.

"“Whether it’s draft compensation. Young players. When you set the price that high, even for Russell Westbrook, if it’s not met the Rockets are fine going into this season and playing it out.”"

As Amico seemingly hit on, clearly, both sides didn’t come to an agreement. From my perspective, with Houston realistically wanting the farm back in return for Westbrook, and with a potential deal seemingly having to include Love, that’s reassuring. I get it in the sense that maybe Cleveland was looking to have future assets via draft capital attached with Westbrook, one would assume, if a possible package were to be agreed upon.

Westbrook is a dude that’s going to pile up numbers for you, and he had 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.6 steals per outing in 2019-20, also. He’s a relentless player, too, and Russ will always give you max effort when he’s out there.

But factoring in how Westbrook is due to make over $40 and $44 million the next two seasons, and has a $47 million player option for 2022-23, this is a hard pass. Aside from that eye sore for a potential deal with Westbrook being 32, he’s a dude who can be prone to hunting steals/rebounds, and taking unnecessary risks defensively, which can be detrimental to team defense.

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And a few other factors play into why it wouldn’t have been wise to take on Westbrook: his jump shot has gone way downhill and him having a naturally ultra-ball-dominant style would likely stunt growth of young players.

Westbrook is a heck of a driver, that’s fair to say, but he’s not a floor spacer, and has hit just 29.8, 29.0 and 25.8 percent from three-point land in the past three seasons.

In five of the past six seasons, he’s hit under 30.0 percent from deep, mostly with the Oklahoma City Thunder before.

So again, it’s not seemingly certain what the offer was.

But Westbrook is not a player whose production, honestly, has led to winning on a consistent basis when he was the focal point of his offenses. That’s not including time with Harden and/or Kevin Durant (pre-Paul George teammate days).

And even with Durant, the Thunder underachieved, seemingly in large part due to Westbrook being a high-volume jump shooter, even with him having been very inconsistent in that realm, and Westbrook, generally speaking, being so ball-dominant and not progressing enough as an off-ball player.

Although I would think a few young pieces would still be around for Cleveland, if a potential Russ deal were to have gone down, with him naturally being such a ball-controlling player, it’d also stunt growth opportunities for young guys.

That’d be counterintuitive, from my perspective, and to be clear, Sexton, Cleveland’s 2019-20 leading scorer, likes the ball in his hands, but it’s not like he’d control every facet of offense, like Westbrook would.

Anyway, while I’m not completely discounting Russ, who has always put up numbers and is such a tough competitor, for the Cavaliers at this stage, them accepting a deal for Westbrook wouldn’t have been wise. That’s under the assumption that future assets wouldn’t have been attached.

I honestly wouldn’t imagine the Cavaliers, though they could maybe make a push for the 7-10 seed play-in tourney, would definitively make the postseason, either.

That’s with how Love, one of the NBA’s best shooting and defensive rebounding bigs, would appear to very likely be included in a potential deal, too. Even at 32, Love to me, is an invaluable player, and his shooting presence helps open up the floor more for players like Sexton, KPJ and Garland.

Trading for Westbrook, in all seriousness, would’ve been moving two steps back for the Cavs.

That’s again, more so in thinking a potential deal wouldn’t likely involve a number of future assets, based on what Charania emphasized Houston would’ve wanted in return for Russ.