2019-20 Around the NBA: Archived

[SleepingHero]

And Westbrick ended up with 19 points on 30 shots 
Still say that was a downgrade trade

It was a massive downgrade. Paul is one of the smartest most efficient players of all time. If any ball dominant point guard could work next to Harden it'd be him. With Westbrook, what he lacks in BBIQ he makes up for in hustle. He's pure energy, but makes the dumbest choices. And energy, while makes the game more chaotic, doesn't really elevate what Harden does. 

Still think Harden personally requested Westbrook and wanted Paul to leave because CP3 was being a minor malcontent due to Harden's attitude/approach to winning. Obviously this is pure conjecture, but by just reading the tea leaves it certainly seems like the Rockets tried to pivot because Harden forced their hand.

---

I think the easiest way to sum it up is Luka is about tricking opponents into actually fouling him, while Harden is about tricking the refs into thinking a foul happened.

What a perfect summarization. I wish I can make a sticky out of that.