Russell Westbrook trade rumors have already begun

It has not even been half a calendar year since the Houston Rockets sent off Chris Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook, yet there are already murmurs of trade talks surrounding the the former MVP.

And when I say “murmurs,” I really do mean murmurs.

Ryen Rusillo of The Ringer said on Thursday, via his podcast, that he believes there is a chance that Daryl Morey is open to shopping his point guard. This is the big quote grab that is floating around:

“Is Daryl Morey actively calling people, saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got to dump Westbrook?’ Well, of course, he wouldn’t do it that way. But there are people who believe Westbrook is available and that Daryl knows, ‘I’ve got to figure something out here.’”

Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on how you view it — there doesn’t seem to be a lot of merit here. Not that this is questioning Rusillo’s credibility, but the report appears to be merely speculation that is enforced by people who speculate the same thing. It’s literally qualified with this statement:

“I think Westbrook is available. We can talk about semantics, of course, Daryl Morey would trade anyone if he thought it made his team better. Of course, he would trade Westbrook if he could get off of that long-term money, if he thought the assets, the sum of the parts was better than having somebody that’s considered a top-10 player.”

That being said, the speculation is fair, the sentiment is fair, and it’s definitely one of those general reports or statements that is harmless if nothing happens, or they were right all along if something does. It’s one of those Tweets that some random you follow Tweets in October after a bad game, and then they say “see, but y’all don’t listen to me” when the player is traded at the deadline. Like, yes, we knew this was somewhat of a possibility all along. You’re not the only person to think this. Morey is the most aggressive GM in the league that traded away a guy he just signed to a max contract after only one season.

The only thing here that is worth taking exception to is floating by an idea and reporting it as something that Morey is actually doing. It’s Rusillo saying, “I’m sure people will deny this after they hear it on the podcast. I don’t care.” Do you want us to accept it as a possibility, or do you want us to actually believe Morey was on the phone today with another GM? Or do you want us to be confused as to what you’re actually saying here?

If you’re here to tell us that you and few of your friends think that Westbrook could be on the trading block, then I’m here for that because, sure, I don’t see why not. But nothing about these transcripts says that Morey is actually doing this, so why is there any defensiveness?

Also, if you came to this blog hoping for me to weigh the pros and cons, why this is viable, what it could mean for the team’s future, or why exactly Morey is going to trade away their franchise player’s BFF, then this isn’t the piece for you. As disappointed as I was to see Westbrook’s name in the headlines, I was even more disappointed that this was the authority they were basing it off of. It’s a great, realistic talking point, but it’s not something worth losing our minds over.

Yet, here I am talking about it. Funny how the news works, isn’t it?