Both general managers involved in Thursday night's reported blockbuster trade between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder deserve plenty of credit, WFAN's Boomer Esiason said Friday morning.
According to multiple reports, the Thunder sent Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, first-round picks in 2024 and 2026 and the right to swap first-rounders in 2021 and 2025, with top-four protections on the picks.
"No. 1, Chris Paul just got kicked to the curb," Esiason said on the "Boomer and Gio" show. "That's about as embarrassing as it gets for him unfortunately because when you see what Houston had to give up to get Westbrook, that just kind of tells you that Chris Paul must've been a real pain in the ass. And the man who runs Houston is a guy by the name of James Harden.
"No. 2, Daryl Morey down there in Houston is exactly what I want my general managers to be of my team. I want him to be ruthless. I want him to make decisions. I want him to shake things up, especially when they realize that they couldn't win with that collection that they had down there."
Esiason also applauded Thunder GM Sam Presti for the number of picks he secured in dealing Westbrook to Houston and Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers last week. Oklahoma City could have as many as 15 first-round picks over the next seven drafts depending on pick protections plus several pick swaps.
Esiason's co-host, Gregg Giannotti, didn't agree that Morey deserved a lot of credit for his role in the trade, but he did praise Presti.
"Daryl Morey generally is a guy that I've given a lot of credit to," Gio said. "This one apparently was all about Westbrook and (James) Harden wanting to play together again and then manufacturing that and making it happen.
"As far as Oklahoma City, this is where I will actually agree with you, and I'll say that Sam Presti has done an incredible job in this rebuild getting rid of these two players. ... The amount of first-round picks that he has gotten back in these deals (are) off the charts."
Giannotti added that it's "nuts" that Harden requested that his team trade for Westbrook, as is being reported, and that Kawhi Leonard demanded the Clippers trade for George, and both teams moved quickly to accommodate them.
