4 Teams That Need to Call the Thunder About a Russell Westbrook Trade Right Now

Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder have tepidly hit the reset button with their trade of Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers and subsequent acquisition of a hoard of draft picks and players from LA. The biggest obstacle preventing OKC from fully rebuilding is Russell Westbrook. The triple-double machine that has now driven three stars out of town and is losing his jump shot. By trading him to one of these four teams, the Thunder could jettison him, his style of play, and his massive contract while collecting a solid haul of picks.

4. Miami Heat

Pat Riley has always been a sucker for stars at the expense of draft picks, and could be enticed to swing a deal for Westbrook. While the personalties of Jimmy Butler and Russ together in the same locker room could lead to as many physical altercations on the court as wins, those two running the show in Miami would at the very least make the Heat a playoff lock in the East, which is more than can be said about that franchise ever since LeBron left. The problem is that the Heat don't own any of their first-round picks for quite a while, so it's unclear what they can do at this point.

3. Indiana Pacers

Westbrook and Victor Oladipo played one (unsuccessful) season together before the Pacers traded for the former Indiana Hoosier and he emerged into a star. As deep as the Pacers are and as good of a coach as Nate McMillan is, how far can you go in the East with Oladipo as your best player? Westbrook's gaudy offensive production would give the Pacers a superstar and vaunt them into the championship contender discussion.

2. New York Knicks

Fear not, Knicks fans, there is still a path to a superstar. Rather than again bet it all on black in the 2021 free agency before their inevitable failure, the Knicks could send some of the stockpile of picks they acquired from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis trade and a few of those two-year deals they made this offseason to Oklahoma City for Westbrook. The fit might be a bit incongruous, but he'll be the best player the Knicks have had since Carmelo and would finally give those fans something to cheer for besides hope.

1. Phoenix Suns

Are you serious about fixing your point guard problem, Suns? If so, forget about Ricky Rubio and try to hit a home run by trading for a future Hall of Famer. Send a few picks and players to the Thunder, and you could end up with a starting five of Westbrook, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Kelly Oubre and DeAndre Ayton. That could be enough to get the moribund Suns back to the playoffs. At the very least, they'll be a respectable team again and not a doormat.