New York Knicks: 3 outrageous trade packages for Russell Westbrook

New York Knicks trade package No. 3

Up until now we’ve operated under a couple of assumptions. The first is that the Rockets will make a deal because they want to be rid of Russell Westbrook’s contract and gain some salary and luxury tax savings. The second is that the Rockets will have to incentivize teams to take on his gargantuan contract.

What we’ll presuppose in our final package is that both of these assumptions are wrong. The Rockets will actually care more about winning than saving money, and the Knicks won’t get assets in the deal but will instead have to send their own valuable first-round pick to Houston.

The Knicks have come in second (third, four or fifth) so many times in their efforts to get stars, even though there’s a new administration in town, that kind of consistent failure must rub off on Leon Rose and company by osmosis. If that’s the case, perhaps they will decide that valuation aside, they aren’t going to come in second for Russell Westbrook, no matter what.

Let’s take a look at a suicide pact written in ink by the New York Knicks:

This trade is, of course, sheer lunacy and should not be done by the New York Knicks. However, it’s 2020, and if you don’t prepare for the worst even in everyday minutiae, you’ll probably regret it at some point.

The Rockets win everything here. They save $6.4 million, they get the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, they add shooting, a backup point guard and a center that they can do whatever with.

As for the Knicks, they may see themselves as the big winner here. They didn’t get Kevin Durant. They didn’t get Kyrie Irving. They didn’t even sniff a meeting with LeBron James. Not that long ago Greg Monroe turned them down. After all that, they finally get their man, Russell Westbrook.

And all it costs them is everything.