NBA Trade Rumors: Anthony Davis Weighs in on James Harden and Russel Westbrook Requesting a Trade from the Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are in pandemonium. Reports emerged that Russell Westbrook and James Harden have asked to leave the franchise. Now, the entire NBA is watching to see what will happen in H-Town.

Lakers‘ Anthony Davis spoke to Yahoo in an interview. On the subject of Harden and Westbrook wanting to leave Houston, AD said he understood where they were coming from and stated, “I think that those guys just want to win. Like I said, I was in that situation last year, you know, where I wanted to win. And I was able to get the job done, you know, the following year.” 

Davis said that the urgency from both players to win was greater than their desire for financial security. He noted that their ambition was why they might want to leave. He said:

“But, you know, you got two guys like JH (James Harden) and Russ, you know, two guys who made a ton of money, you know, guys who now are looking to win, like I want to win. And I’m not saying they didn’t want to win before. But, you know, Russ has been there one year, James has been there for six years or seven years, something like that.” 

AD understands the ambition of James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Anthony Davis suggested that while he hasn’t spoken to either Harden or Westbrook, he knows as a player what their goals will be and said, “I haven’t talked to any of them or don’t know. But if it’s true that both are looking to move forward and try to compete for a championship. Because at the end of the day, you come into the league to make a ton of money. But you want to win.” 

Davis believes that the reason they want to leave is in order to win an NBA Championship. And they probably don’t see that happening with the Houston Rockets. Davis added, “You want to be a champion. You want to have that feeling. So like I said, those guys are probably in that stage right now where they want to compete for a championship.”

It will be an interesting off-season. Much like Harden and Westbrook, Davis’ future is an important subject of discussion, as he is expected to opt-out of his option with the Lakers to become a free agent.