Star guard Russell Westbrook is still with the Houston Rockets and by all accounts, still wants to be traded.
And it appears the Cavaliers were among the teams that at least listened to some Westbrook overtures from the Rockets.
“The Rockets talked to Washington about John Wall, which I reported,” NBA insider Shams Charania said on the Complex Load Management podcast. “They talked to Cleveland, I’m told.”
But whatever conversations new Rockets general manager Rafael Stone is having … well, it seems that he is asking too much in return for Westbrook at the moment.
“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,” Charania said.
Westbrook, 32, is coming off his first season in Houston. He continued to compile eye-popping numbers. Last regular season, it was 27.2 points, 7.9 assists and 7.0 rebounds.
He is a former UCLA teammate of Cavs power forward Kevin Love. But given Westbrook’s salary, you can almost be sure Love would have to be included in a return to the Rockets. So you can probably forget about the highly hypothetical idea of a Westbrook-Love reunion.
You can also be sure the Rockets would be asking about the likes of the Cavs’ young guards with upside — Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and/or Kevin Porter Jr. Throw a first-round draft pick in there, too.
Whatever it was, the Cavs and Rockets obviously didn’t reach any sort of agreement.
But what’s not just speculation is the Rockets are expected to continue to pursue Westbrook trades. They will likely do so all the way until the start of the season Dec. 22 (and beyond). The same goes for fellow All-Star guard James Harden, who also reportedly wants out.
There’s always a chance they will talk to the Cavs again. And the more desperate the Rockets become, the better the deal would be for their potential trade partner.
