Houston's Water is Worse Than Flint's

What is in the water in Houston? They must be drinking stupid juice. First, the Texans throw away arguably the best receiver in the league in Deandre Hopkins for chump change and a thread of yarn. But don’t worry, it can’t get any worse than that, Houstonians. Oh wait, yes it can. The Rockets just traded former MVP and 9x All Star Russell Westbrook for John Wall and a protected first-round pick in 2023. These Houston GMs are trying to finish the job that Hurricane Harvey couldn’t, to destroy the city of Houston and break the will of those who live there.

Quite honestly, I am at a loss as to why Houston would do this trade. It’s like if the new Rockets GM Rafael Stone went to a used car dealership. He spots a 2010 Honda Accord; it’s missing a tire, bears the scratches and dents of its last ten years driving in DC traffic, and the stereo is stuck on “Teach Me How to Dougie”. This thing’s Kelley Blue Book value is not what it used to be. Stone says to the used car salesman, “I’ll trade in my 2017 Honda Accord for this here 2010 model.” Astonished, the salesman asks if there’s a condition to the deal, unable to understand why anyone in their right mind would offer that. Stone looks at him with a smug grin, “You really thought I was just gonna give away my car, huh? Think again. I also want a free oil change in three years”.

I admit it, that’s a pretty stupid analogy (maybe I’ve been drinking some of the water in Houston). But in all seriousness, the Rockets traded Russell Westbrook, a bonafide star point guard who has produced incredibly over the last couple years, for John Wall. While Russ was averaging a triple-double, John Wall was averaging a double-double animal style with fries and a shake. I agree Russ is disgruntled, but is a gruntled John Wall any better? Best case scenario, John Wall is able to produce 75% of what Russ has been doing year in and year out. And that’s assuming that John Wall can do something that he hasn’t been capable of for years - stay healthy. So, it begs the question: Why? Why did Houston do it? I will now posit two theories.

The first of which is that the Houston Rockets are cleaning house. They no longer believe in the small-ball philosophy that has defined them for the past five years. They canned GM Morey and Coach D’antoni; Westbrook’s and Harden’s pink slips have been in the mail for days. The Rockets front office no longer thinks they can win with the system and players they have in place and is tearing it down to build for the future. 

The only problem I have with that theory is that, if you’re a team looking to rebuild, why build it on the shaky, achilles-compromised foundation of John Wall? There must have been a Westbrook trade out there that doesn’t involve paying $40 million a year to John Wall. There must have been. But maybe not. Maybe Westbrook’s value has diminished so significantly because teams do not want to pay $40 million a year for a shoot-first (nice way to say ball-hog) point guard who is likely past his prime. Sound familiar? Yeah, I’m talking to you, John. 

So why did Houston trade one on-ball (another nice way to say ball-hog) point guard for a lesser version of himself? The answer is James Harden. My second theory is that the Rockets organization believes James Harden to be a franchise cornerstone for the next decade and, in an effort to make Harden believe the same thing, has given over a share of GM power to him. James Harden is Kawhi Leonard and John Wall is Paul George. Both Harden and Kawhi have their organizations’ balls in their palms and will squeeze as hard as necessary to make the guys upstairs conform to their every desire. That’s how Kawhi got Paul George and I believe that’s how James Harden got John Wall. But is the juice worth the squeeze? It was hard to argue for Paul George and it’s even harder to argue for John Wall. Does this deal make the Rockets immediate contenders like the Paul George one did for the Clippers? I don’t think so. Perhaps letting star players dictate the future of your organization isn’t the best way to run your team. Unless of course his name is LeBron James.