My (not so serious) prediction as to the KD/Kyrie trades, a.k.a. how Russell Westbrook helps the Thunder yet again

Happy Russell Westbrook day, y'all!

We know that the #1 preferred destination for KD seems to be the Phoenix Suns, likely involving a DeAndre Ayton sign-and-trade. We also know that Kyrie seems to want to go to the Lakers to play with LeBron again most of all, and apparently LeGM has approved the idea of playing with Kyrie again. Who knows what a Lakers trade looks like, and I'm not being serious enough to check the actual numbers, but here's the pitch:

KD gets traded to the Suns; the Nets get a return of DeAndre Ayton + other assets. Kyrie gets traded to the Lakers; the Nets get a return of Russell Westbrook + other assets.

This leaves Russell Westbrook on the Nets, to play with Ayton and the plethora of shooters that the Nets have around them. I know their shooters didn't really show up in the playoffs--that's not important here, let's talk regular season.

We all know how good Russ is when playing with traditional pick-and-roll centers. He gets them buckets and gets them paid, especially if they have shooters around them. The Brooklyn Nets have zero incentive to tank, as the Houston Rockets have their picks. That's the key point here, that the Houston Rockets (our likely primary rival in the Western Conference at the moment because we are rebuilding on the same timeline) benefit from the Nets having poor records.

So in this universe, Russell Westbrook becomes the star playmaker for the Nets, having a great time playing in a big market that actually likes him, feeding an excellent scoring big who wants more scoring opportunities, and with shooters around them for spacing. Can a restored Westbrook and happy Ayton Nets team win big in the playoffs? Nahhhh. But can they play well to at least be in the high lottery/play-in and make sure that the Rockets don't luck into a big draft pick and outpace us in the rebuild? Yuuuup.

Anyways, Russ ends up being beloved in the Nets fanbase for keeping them afloat while they rebuild around Ayton and whatever picks they get from the Suns/Lakers until he eventually signs a one-day contract with us and retires as a Thunder.

Russell and KD end up finishing their careers having played for two of the same team--OKC and BKN--and Russ ends up being more loved than KD by both fanbases. All is well. It is Russell Westbrook day in Brooklyn as well.