Thunder's Russell Westbrook, Paul George Double Trade Was 'Forced'

Oklahoma City Thunder are in the process of rebuilding after trading Russell Westbrook to Houston Rockets and Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers but that was never the plan when the offseason began. A Thunder executive has revealed that the team did not plan to let go of their two biggest assets but circumstances forced them to begin their rebuilding process.

Westbrook will partner James Harden in Houston for the upcoming campaign while George will form a formidable pairing with Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles and his arrival has made them the favorites for the 2020 NBA championship. The Thunder executive, however, was not too concerned and believes they have enough assets to build for a strong future.

The Oklahoma franchise received Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilegious-Alexander and future first-round picks from the Clippers, while the Rockets parted with Chris Paul and multiple future first-round draft picks.

“When we sat down and mapped out our summer plans, none of them included trading Paul (George) and certainly none of them included trading Russell (Westbrook). But that’s how this league works,” the Thunder executive said, as quoted on Yahoo Sports.

“Sometimes your hand is forced. When that happens, you do the best you can and I think we did even better than that. We’ve got more to work with moving forward than any team in the history of the league. Now we have to make something of all of that,” he added.

Thunder are open to trading Paul as the veteran point guard’s three-years $124 million contract does not match their rebuilding process but they have not been able to agree terms with any interested franchise. The Miami Heat are said to be admirers but are demanding their two future first-round draft picks that Thunder hold as part of the deal, which the latter is not ready to part with.