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Rockets trade Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook – Nick & Cris react | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

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The Rockets just gambled their backcourt on reuniting two former MVPs — and FS1’s Nick Wright and Cris Carter aren’t sure it works.

Houston agreed to send Chris Paul to Oklahoma City on July 11, 2019, in exchange for Russell Westbrook, reuniting the eight-time All-Star with James Harden for the first time since their Thunder days. On the July 12 episode of “First Things First,” Nick Wright and Cris Carter broke down whether pairing two MVP-caliber, ball-dominant guards actually makes Houston a bigger threat in the Western Conference or just a more complicated one.

• The Rockets sent Chris Paul, protected 2024 and 2026 first-round picks, and pick swaps in 2021 and 2025 to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook.
• Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said, “We’re never gonna stand pat… I think this makes us a better team,” while crediting Paul’s role in Houston’s franchise-best consecutive regular-season stretch.
• Nick Wright called Westbrook an “absolute superstar,” while Cris Carter questioned how he and Harden would share the ball under Mike D’Antoni.

The Deal That Reshaped Houston’s Backcourt

The trade capped weeks of speculation that followed Oklahoma City’s decision to move Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, a deal that left Westbrook as the last remaining piece of the Thunder’s old core. According to the terms reported at the time, Houston gave up Paul — a nine-time All-Star point guard — along with two protected first-round picks and two future pick swaps to bring back the 2017 MVP. Sources close to the situation indicated Harden and Westbrook had pushed behind the scenes to play together again, a reunion that finally became possible once Oklahoma City decided to pivot.

Fertitta didn’t downplay the magnitude of the swap. “We’re never gonna stand pat,” he said, adding, “I think this makes us a better team,” even as he acknowledged everything Paul had given the franchise during its recent playoff runs. For a Rockets team that has spent years chasing a title behind Harden’s step-back jumper, the move signaled ownership’s willingness to bet on star power and athleticism over continuity.

Nick Wright’s Case for Westbrook

Wright didn’t hedge on his read of the trade. He praised Westbrook as an “absolute superstar,” pointing to his rebounding numbers, top-end speed, and relentless attacks at the rim as exactly the kind of jolt Mike D’Antoni’s offense needed after years of leaning on Paul’s more deliberate, pick-and-roll-heavy game. In Wright’s view, swapping in a younger, more explosive athlete upgraded Houston’s ceiling regardless of the fit questions everyone else was raising.

“We’re never gonna stand pat… I think this makes us a better team.”

Cris Carter’s Fit Concerns

Carter wasn’t as quick to sign off. He and Wright both dug into the tactical problem at the center of the deal: two MVP-level, high-usage guards who both prefer the ball in their hands, neither known as a knockdown perimeter shooter, now sharing a backcourt in D’Antoni’s spread-out, isolation-heavy system. Houston’s offense has thrived for years on Harden shouldering an enormous share of possessions surrounded by shooting; Westbrook’s arrival forces D’Antoni to figure out how much of that usage he’s willing to hand over, and how the roster’s shooters fit around two non-shooters at the point of attack.

That tension sat underneath the entire segment. Both hosts agreed the raw talent upgrade was real, but the on-court chemistry question — untested, unresolved, and about to play out in a Western Conference loaded with contenders — was the actual stake of the trade, not just the names involved.

Houston Asset and Resource Sacrifices

The picks attached to the deal matter almost as much as the players. Protected first-rounders in 2024 and 2026, plus swap rights in 2021 and 2025, represent a significant chunk of Houston’s future draft capital committed to a bet that Westbrook and Harden can coexist right now. It’s the kind of price that only makes sense if the pairing pushes the Rockets past the teams currently ahead of them in the West — which is exactly the debate Wright and Carter were having on set.

The fascination with athletes reinventing their public image on live TV isn’t unique to sports either — for more of that dynamic, see how reporters have handled scrutiny in real time, or how stars have responded to pointed questioning under similar pressure.

Training camp will settle a lot of what Wright and Carter were only able to guess at from a studio desk — namely, whether D’Antoni can build an offense around two guards who’ve spent their careers as the only ball-handler on the floor. Until then, Houston’s bet is simple: Westbrook’s speed and rebounding outweigh Paul’s fit, and the picks they gave up are worth it if the Harden-Westbrook pairing gets them past whoever’s waiting in the West come next spring.