Westbrook 'eternally grateful' to Oklahoma City
Russell Westbrook thanked Oklahoma City fans Friday night in a heartfelt Instagram post, saying he is "eternally grateful" for the 11 years he spent in a Thunder uniform.
The Thunder agreed Thursday night to a blockbuster trade to send Westbrook to Houston, reuniting him with former Oklahoma City teammate James Harden. The Rockets will send Chris Paul, two protected first-round picks (2024, 2026) and two pick swaps (2021, 2025) to Oklahoma City, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
Meanwhile, Harden appeared at a sneaker event Friday and was asked about the agreed-to trade that will pair the NBA's two highest scorers over the past five seasons: Harden with 11,958 points and Westbrook with 10,025.
"When I left OKC, I was sad. Then Houston made a home for me," Harden said. "Rockets is my home. And now an opportunity came available where Russ wasn't happy. Now we're back. It's going to be a lot of fun this year, I guarantee you that. Believe it."
Westbrook and Harden, two former league MVP guards, were Thunder teammates for three seasons, the last of those being the 2011-12 campaign in which that duo and Kevin Durant took Oklahoma City to the NBA Finals. The Thunder lost in five games to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, and Harden departed that summer for Houston, where he has been an All-Star ever since.
The Westbrook-Paul swap has not been formally announced, but the Thunder acknowledged Westbrook on their Twitter account.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti worked with Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, to help honor Westbrook's hopes of playing with the Rockets, league sources said.
"We're excited to have Russell Westbrook," Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta told Fox 26 in Houston on Thursday. "I would watch him play for Oklahoma City, and he's so athletic.
"At the same time, this franchise just had the two years with the most wins it's ever had in consecutive years, and we wouldn't have accomplished that without Chris Paul. Chris Paul is unbelievable, and he's gonna be sadly missed."
