Daryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets, explained the mindset behind the trade that sent Russell Westbrook to Houston in the summer.
Speaking on “The Lowe Post,” Morey said Westbrook is the player that would turn the Rockets into a title contender.
“We just felt like you can’t win unless you’ve got a peak level that’s very high. And we thought with Chris (Paul) and James (Harden) we were an extremely good team, and in fact in 2018, you could argue the best team. I think Golden State, to be fair, was probably the best (in 2018), but we were right there with them.
And we felt like the team we had with Chris and James was extremely good but was going to come up short of the title. And we thought that adding Russ, who unquestionably has this peak level of play that not many guys have reached, was the right move,” Morey told Lowe, as transcribed by Larry Brown Sports.
Westbrook is averaging 27.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists this season. Houston is sixth in the West with a 40-24 record.
