That sparked the notion of a trade, although The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently said there were signs that the Thunder star might feel emboldened to stay in Oklahoma City.
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The Boston Celtics were mentioned by Beck as the most logical trade destination for Westbrook, based on his conversations with those GMs. But that’s exactly what they are, rumors.
Replacing Westbrook is next to impossible, but Presti can negotiate a mega-trade that would assure Oklahoma City has a shot at the “next” Westbrook by demanding several of Boston’s valuable draft picks on top of players on relatively cheap contracts.
Should the Celtics trade for Russell Westbrook? And if they continue to improve in terms of wins and losses, that’ll only make the Celtics franchise that more attractive to potential free agents. It now makes the team which was already the prohibitive favorite going into next year (along with the Cleveland) the overwhelming favorite, while also crippling G-State’s biggest competition in the West. Since Durant has signed up a deal with the Warriors, Westbrook will have a chance to become an unprecedented leader of OKC. To allow that to happen a second time seems far-fetched. The Lakers have a talented young core to put together an enticing offer, and feature a player in Brandon Ingram that many compare to Westbrook’s old running mate, Kevin Durant. Plus, let’s be honest, the foundation of Durant’s career-altering decision couldn’t be made based off of a friendship, regardless of how important that relationship may have been to him.
Even better for the Celtics: Boston could slot Westbrook into its roster on a max contract next season (or renegotiate a highly lucrative contract extension this season) without breaking down its roster at all. The mindset of today’s stars is about winning titles or at the very least competing for one.
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New Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant admitted Wednesday that his relationship with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook likely “won’t ever be the same again” and that he’ll just have to get used to being the villain. And the Celtics are flush with young talent and great draft picks, the latter courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets. And Boston finally has a bona fide superstar, the first since Paul Pierce. Landing one of the truly elite players in the National Basketball Association right now, like, say, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.
