Rockets may really be broken up by the Lakers. The free agency market hasn't started yet, and rumors about the Rockets trading are all over the air.
Teacher Su Qun, a famous domestic basketball commentator, believes that the Rockets are most likely to replace Westbrook during the offseason, and it is also possible to trade Harden, and even both will be sent away.
Why did the rocket become like this? I think there are three main reasons:
1, the red team's magic ball system collapsed, and the lineup was deformed. The Lakers lost 1-4 in the Western Conference semifinals. Especially in the final game, the Red team was defeated by the Lakers in their best way. It can be said that they removed their last fig leaf. The magic ball game proved not to go far in the playoffs, and it is meaningless to keep going. If the red team doesn't play Magic Ball, this lineup is too deformed. 1.98 meters, 35-year-old Tucker plays center, oh my goodness.
2, Harden and Westbrook are too expensive, the red team can't continue to strengthen the championship. The annual salary of the two next season will be 41.25 million and 41.36 million US dollars. The combined annual salary of the two people is 82.61 million US dollars, and the salary cap is estimated to be 109 million. The salary of the two of them accounts for 75.8% of the salary cap. As we all know, the red team has no tradition of paying a luxury tax. The remaining players together can only get up to 49.39 million US dollars.
next season's red team has guaranteed contract players Gordon's annual salary of 16.87 million, Covington's annual salary of 12.14 million, Tucker 7.97 million, House 3.72 million, Jr. Rivers 2.44 million. There is only 6.25 million left to the estimated luxury tax threshold. The red team now has only 7 people. To make up the 15-man roster, there are 8 people short of it. Come on, you can only sign people with a basic salary. And without good reinforcement, the red team will never be able to hit the championship next season.
3, red team boss Fertitta wants to save money. Among the 30 NBA team owners, Red Team owner Fertitta has been the most negatively affected by the epidemic. Because his industries (red teams, hotels, restaurants, casinos) are all hardest hit by the epidemic.
Next season, the red team will not be able to strengthen, without the strength to compete for the championship, Harden and Westbrook will be so expensive. Why?
So, if the red team sends Westbrook, Harden, or even both of them to save money, it’s not surprising at all.
In theory, Westbrook should be the red team. Because Harden's performance last season was still in the league's Top 10 or even Top 5 ranks, and Westbrook's performance was not much better than Rondo. Moreover, Harden is an old man of the red team. Westbrook has only played in the red team for one season, and he has no deep feelings with the team and fans.
But in fact, because of Westbrook’s poor performance last season, his trade value is now the lowest. If the red team trades him now, it may suffer a big loss.
Conversely, Harden's current transaction value is still high. As long as the red team puts Harden on the trading shelf, at least more than half of the teams in the league will submit an offer to the red team. After all, superstars like Harden are generally not for sale. It's easy to get a general and hard to find. With reference to Paul George's trade during the offseason last year, it would not be too difficult for the red team to get a similar return.
In addition, the advantage of trading Harden and leaving Westbrook is that the results of the red team may not drop too much. Westbrook helps the team to compete for the title but lacks enough power, but Westbrook leads the team to storm the playoff tickets, that is definitely in hand.
In the 2017-18 season, after Durant's departure from the Warriors, Westbrook led the team to the playoffs with a single core. We are all witnesses. When Westbrook becomes the unique core of the team and can let go, maybe that's the best him.
All in all, Westbrook and Harden must go one of them, which is almost inevitable. Harden of the league's top 5, Westbrook of the league's top 10 (should still be there) flow into the trading market, which is bound to cause an earthquake in the NBA. It depends on who can hold Harden in the end.
