Rockets Trade Russell Westbrook To The Chicago Bulls
Rockets Receive: Otto Porter Jr. ($28.4M 2020-21 Salary), Thaddeus Young ($13.5M), CHI 2020 1st Round Pick (Pick No. 4), CHI 2022 2nd Round Pick, CHI 2023 1st Round Pick (Top 5 Protected)
Chicago Bulls Receive: Russell Westbrook ($41.0M)
It is no secret anymore that Russell Westbrook wants out of Houston, but with his market pretty slim, the Rockets may not have many options when trying to move the nine-time NBA All-Star point guard.
At 32 years of age and $131.5M owed to him over the course of the next three seasons and a $46.7M player option in 2022-23, the Rockets have to be prepared to take the best offer they get for Westbrook, which may very well come from the Chicago Bulls.
Absorbing the contract of Thaddeus Young may not be ideal for the Rockets, but picking up Otto Porter Jr, as well as three draft picks is. Gathering valuable draft assets could make Houston’s rebuild quick and easy and the fact that they can get a key contributor in Porter Jr. helps smooth things out roster wise.
Porter Jr. did not play much this past year with the Bulls due to injury, but could definitely contribute as the third or fourth option on a team as he has always been an athletic scorer, averaging just about 11.0 points per game and shooting 48.2% from the floor over the course of his seven-year NBA career.
On the Bulls’ side of things, they have a lot of young talent in Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Wendell Carter Jr. that are hungry and ready to win now, which is why bringing in Russell Westbrook makes a lot of sense. The Bulls have not had an identity for years, but bringing in the triple-double machine himself would make for a very athletic and up-tempo Bulls team.
Chicago has not made the playoffs since the 2016-17 NBA season and since Jimmy Butler departed in 2017, the Bulls have a 71-158 record (31% win percentage). They need to bring in a superstar caliber player to not only ease the tension of the fan base, but bring this franchise back to its winning ways, something they have not seen since Michael Jordan and the 97’-98’ Bulls.
Westbrook played for head coach Billy Donovan in Oklahoma City from 2015-2019, so it would make perfect sense for the Bulls to reunite Westbrook with his former coach and give him the pedestal in Chicago.
