The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets each had high hopes for the 2020-21 NBA season earlier in the offseason. Since then, Klay Thompson has been ruled out due to a season-ending injury— leaving Stephen Curry as the sole active member of the “Splash Brothers.” Meanwhile, both James Harden and Russell Westbrook want to be traded.

If the Warriors have hopes of being able to stay afloat despite Thompson being ruled out for the whole season, it will require some creativity and risk. Additionally, after two major season-ending injuries, it’s unclear how impactful Thompson could be in 2021-22.

Using the contract of Andrew Wiggins in a potential trade could help the Warriors to add a more established star talent to help take pressure off Stephen Curry in the interim. Russell Westbrook can shoulder a heavy playmaking load— making him an intriguing ‘buy-low’ option.

It only helps that Westbrook wants to be traded by the Rockets to land with a new team. It may seem like a far-out-there or out-of-the-box idea, but that’s the type of position Golden State finds themselves being in with a max player sidelined.

Let’s take a look at what a trade would look like between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets centered around Russell Westbrook.