The REAL Reason Why James Harden Is LEAVING Russell Westbrook For Durant (Ft. NBA Playoffs)

James Harden just asked for a trade, Russell Westbrook asked for a trade, but there’s a big NBA problem. #Westbrook #problem #NBA
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Harden and Westbrook are supposed to be really good friends off the court, I mean that’s been the whole argument for why Russ and Harden were supposed to work. That even if their playstyles might not fit, their relationship off-court, their chemistry would make up for that. And I was one of those people that thought they could make it work for a while, but not all the way to the championship. And that’s because all it took was a quick look to see Harden and Russ’s playoff history. We’ve seen Harden lose again and again to the Warriors and now show up in big moments. And we’ve seen Westbrook struggle to get out of the first round, lost 3 years in a row, 2 of em with Paul George.

When Durant left the Thunder, there was never a problem with personalities, it was more about playstyles not meshing. Durant was on record stating he wanted the offense to not just be him and Russ before he left OKC and he felt like he was the only guy that could make threes and that could consistently take jumpshots and make them. Then we have Paul George who got traded to the Thunder, resigned saying there was unfinished business, played one more year, and then forced his way out by demanding a trade. Once again PG and Russ off-the-court seemed like friends. It even looked like Russ had changed and was giving more spotlight to PG who would finish 3rd in the MVP race. But come playoff time, it was more of the same Russ getting into taunting, into shot chucking and the Thunder lost both rounds that were favorites in. I can show the statlines, but even that isn’t enough to capture how Westbrook’s play hurt his team (Westbrook Lillard of). Westbrook’s usage rate was still the second highest in the league behind Harden’s and he had Paul George. Oh also, Victor Oladipo left and became an All-Star.

And now here we are today, another team, another superstar, another trade request. But this one hurts the most of all because it really looked like Westbrook has adjusted. There was a break, no more Russ and Harden got tired from going all out in the regular season. It was their time and they crashed. Their whole playstyle crashed. It’s not just the loss to the Lakers, it’s how they lost. Almost as if they didn’t even belong. In the series against the Lakers, Westbrook averaged 19.8 points on 42% from the field, his threes jumped back up to 5.4 attempts a game, 5 assists and 4.2 turnovers a game.

And maybe that’s just it. Westbrook has crashed. We have him an extended time period, an extended leash to show us something. We saw what he did with Durant and Harden, then with just KD, we saw a few offensive explosions in the playoffs and then disappointments like Game 6 against the Warriors. Then without KD, we saw Westbrook fizzle out. He won an MVP, but even that wasn’t for winning, that was for individual stats. In today’s NBA, where does he fit? He’s a perennial all-star, but he’s a high usage player that can’t shoot, nor has a reliable midrange shots, insists on taking a bunch of shots that don’t fit him. He’s raw athleticism, raw passion, raw rage but he’s 32 years old so what do you do with that? I think that’s what every team is wondering because now Westbrook has also asked for a trade, but he has no trade value. That’s the consensus around the league and that doesn’t surprise me or really anyone. Because where can Westbrook go and be a fit? Don’t forget he also has 2 years plus a player option left on his contract worth $123 mil.

So where does Russ go from here? We’ve been saying this for years, but he needs to adjust. But this doesn’t mean developing a shot, although that would be nice. I mean he has to get used to a diminished role. Maybe even have a usage rate in the 20s. And Russ is capable of doing these things, we’ve seen him do it alongside Harden in small ball, he’s able to play the off-ball cutter role.

So while Harden might be making the most headlines, the teammup with Kyrie and KD, we’re forgetting about Westbrook. We’re just casually forgetting a guy who just averaged 27 points. Stats don’t mean that much, but he’s still a guy that can make a decent impact. And he can be apiece that changes a team, for better or worse depending on what Westbrook we get.

Видео The REAL Reason Why James Harden Is LEAVING Russell Westbrook For Durant (Ft. NBA Playoffs) канала MJ2KALLDAY