Oklahoma City trades Westbrook to Rockets

By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

It’s been a doozy of a free agency, but still the NBA shocks – Oklahoma City traded Russell Westbrook to Houston Rockets for veteran point guard Chris Paul, two first round picks, and pick swaps in 2021 and 2025.

With the trade, Westbrook will be reunited with fellow superstar James Harden.

It’s pretty obvious that OKC is rebuilding, letting go of their lone star in Westbrook, and trading him for a couple first round picks.

The trade, tagged as “the point guard swap,” surprised a lot of people as multiple reports indicated that Paul and the Rockets organization had reached a mutual agreement, but at the end of the day he still got traded.

Rumors started to spread early on that Paul will be traded as his relationship with Harden became frayed with both of them having different approaches to the game.

On other off-season developments, Field Level Media/Reuters reported that the Toronto Raptors signed forward Stanley Johnson, who split the 2018-19 season between the Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans.

The terms were not announced, but Spotrac reported that Johnson agreed to a two-year, $7.424 million deal.

A 6-foot-7 forward, Johnson played 66 games (seven starts) and averaged 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 18.3 minutes per game.

The Pelicans acquired Johnson on Feb. 7 at the NBA trade deadline in a three-way deal with the Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks. Detroit selected him with the No. 8 overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft.

The team also announced Thursday the signing of rookie free agent Terence Davis.

According to multiple reports, Davis signed a two-year, $2.42 million deal.

In four seasons at Ole Miss, the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 121 career games (82 starts). He was a second-team All-SEC selection as a senior.