I’m sure by now we’ve all heard of the recent blockbuster trade in the NBA. The Rockets lost CP3 and a host of picks and the Thunder lost Westbrook.

This is a very interesting trade for me because it seems like both teams got worse. That’s really rare. It’s like the albino of NBA trades. These things don’t come around too often.

CP3 for Westbrook is a like-for-like trade in the sense that they are both dominant point guards. If the Thunder had traded Westbrook to the Heat, like everyone thought they were going to do, they probably would’ve gotten someone like Dragic in return. That’s not a like-for-like, even though Dragic is a PG as well, because, frankly, Dragic isn’t as good as these two guys. The Thunder traded a star for another (albeit aging) star.

This was a bad move for the Rockets. On the surface, it makes sense and is a good move for them. CP3 wanted out. They managed to get one of the best players in the league, who plays the same position and is a bit younger, in his place. That seems amazing. But, by all accounts, Westbrook is hard to play with if you’re trying to be a star. Look no further than the Durant situation. Westbrook doesn’t like to share the spotlight. He wants to run the team. Now he is going to a team that already has a player exactly like that on the roster. Harden is the exact same way (maybe he learned from Westbrook). Harden wants to be the star. Anyone who gets in the way of that causes tension.

This team looks scary. I mean, it has two of the best scorers in the league on it. They traded in their old PG for a newer model who is better at scoring. But I can’t see those two personalities working well together. I think the NBA seriously underestimates the power of a tight locker room. They don’t think about team chemistry. They think that if you throw enough talent on a team, they’ll be good and it doesn’t matter if they like each other. That might be true to an extent, the Rockets will definitely be a playoff team this year, but eventually, this tension is going to bubble over. It’ll be quite a fall when it does.

People will say: “But they played together before and it wasn’t a problem.” But that was when Harden wasn’t Harden. He wasn’t a superstar yet. He wasn’t the best scorer in the league yet. His beard wasn’t as long. It was very clear Harden was on Westbrook’s (and Durant’s) team. Now, it’s clear Westbrook is going to Harden’s team. I can’t see Westbrook wanting to take a back seat and play second fiddle. But, especially with those two players, someone will have to.

I don’t think I need to highlight why the Thunder are in a worse spot after this trade, but I still think they got the better end of the deal. For one simple reason: Westbrook wanted to leave. They made the best out of this situation that they could. Similar to the Warriors getting Russell, they managed to get a star in place of their star.

CP3 is still great, but he’s getting old. He’s not as good as Westbrook. He can’t carry a team. And now without PG or any other star on the Thunder, they are going to be hurting. Unless they bring in someone else, which is highly likely, I’m not seeing them being successful this year. They may scrape out a playoff seed, but it’ll be a tough fight.