Isaac
Years ago
Houston has agreed to trade Russell Westbrook to Washington for John Wall and a first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 3, 2020
how i imagine this Westbrook/Wall trade went down:
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 3, 2020
Wizards: "good luck."
Rockets: “you too.”
Tjamu
Years ago
this is a win for Washington i feel.
Russ just had a 27-8-7 year at 47% from the field with a lower number of 3 point attempts, which is good considering he shot them at 24%. They get to pair him with Beal which is good because it was clear Wall was sick of being over taken as the franchise corner stone.
Houston gets Wall, which could be a gamble given hes had 2 years off, but imagine if he is fine ad has developed a jumpshot, which surely wouldnt be hard to do as a pro thats literally paid to do so.
I feel the gamble was worth it given that they either get a good, but not prime Wall, who will still be good for 18-4-8 alongside Harden, who wont have to change his game up much OR they get a lesser version of Wall who basically still is a serviceable starter to go alongside Harden, who would then get to dribble out shot clocks all game and shoot travel stepbacks while scoring 35ppg and carrying them to a 4 seed second round exit.
Cousins/Christian Wood will get light n easy buckets off the issues Wall/Harden create too.
Houston arent gonna be as bad as people think and Washington were stuck still and really had to take this gamble. Life is good!
So Washington get Westbrook to be 2nd fiddle to Beal, yet Westbrook wants to be OKC Westbrook. This ain't gonna go well.
Zodiac
Years ago
This doesn't make much sense from Washington's perspective why risk alienating Beal with a difficult personality like Westbrook? Unless of course they know Beal is thinking about asking for a trade and they're essentially swinging for the fences in the hope he will stay.
If Beal does end up asking for a trade then I guess Westbrook is going to draw more fans in than a broken down John Wall so probably worth the gamble for a late first round pick.
Craig
Years ago
So glad Westbrook isnt coming to Orlando... those rumours were really starting to scare me.
Still between him and Wall whilst it much and much 2 bad players being swapped over, Westbrook is the better of the two given Wall will likely have lost his explosiveness due to the injuries he has sustained.
If Wall came back and somehow was 100% then he is the better of the two.
So from a MVP that averaged triple doubles that Houston gave up so much to get is traded for a guy that hasn't played in 2 years and wasn't a superstar even before that. The protected pick seems to be the biggest asset involved.
Were Houston's picks to OKC protected? If not we could be looking at a nets/Boston trade if Harden is traded for "prospects". If Houston could have handled the CP3 matter better, they well could of snagged a title this year.
Tjamu
Years ago
the narrative of Westbrook being a bad team mate is over rated.
All these rumours just stem from him having no jump shot but stilll shooting lol.
Anon
Years ago
I would have liked to see last seasons Rockets play without D'Antonio coaching. At the NBA level I reckon he's shit. If Pop had that group...
Pop had Duncan, which makes anyone look like a great coach, which he admits himself. No way he would have made Houston better with it's selfish players. They went all in with D'Antoni and Moreys plan, didn't work so they gone. Best they can hope is they don't get stuck in between with Harden just shooting 3s and rest not suited to play that style. If possible they need to get future back while harden has value. Started to with Covington trade and hope that Westbrook destroys Washington so that 1st rounder, despite protections, becomes valuable.
PyroCross
Years ago
So Westbrook is returning to a coach he knows, where this coach led an offense with two offensive dynamos to the Western Conference Finals, knowing that his current team will play in the weaker East.
He's going to a team in the 10th spot before he arrived, who replaced an injured guy with an All-NBA guy. He's never had a 3pt threat as reliable as Davis Bertans to kick the ball out to on the weak side when going to the lane. And somehow the Wiz aren't expected to make the playoffs?
I think the Wiz will surprise people this season - Westbrook isn't a malcontent and he knows how to lead a team, two pluses over Wall. Add in the possibility of Hachimura, Avdija and Troy Brown, and who knows?
Isn't a malcontent yet asks to be traded the last 2 years?
Houston didn't have 3 point threats?
Lead a team? Pisses off all nba Durant to the point he leaves, and pads stats at an all time level? Team he was traded from given no chance to make playoffs, yet nearly beat this amazing leaders team in playoffs.
Traded for a guy that hasn't played in 2 years, Jordan had retired for less time the first time.
Yes, he's an athletic freak, but hardly a Tim Duncan type personality.
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