A deal has been agreed between the Houston Rockets and the Washington Wizards. A trade between the two teams has been finalised in which, Houston will be trading their All-Star point-guard Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and a 2023 protected first-round draft pick.
Earlier this offseason, Westbrook had asked the Rockets for a trade, his fellow Rockets star James Harden did so as well.
Westbrook requested for a trade as he wanted the opportunity to be a true leader, prominent ball handler and floor general again. He should be getting all that chance at Washington. Westbrook will be playing alongside another star guard, Bradley Beal who is coming off averaging 30 points per game this past season.
Westbrook got selected for his 9th All-Star Game this past season. He was also selected to the Third-Team All-NBA after the conclusion of the regular season this past season. Westbrook averaged 27.2 points, 8.3 assists and 7.1 rebounds to go with 1.7 steals per game. Westbrook was a big reason for Houston’s success last season. The Rockets finished with a record of 44 wins and 28 losses, earning themselves a 4th seed spot in the Western Conference. They defeated Oklahoma City Thunder in a nail-biting first-round playoff series, 4-3. They eventually lost to the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs, 4-1.
Whereas, John Wall is coming off a torn Achilles’ tendon, one of the worst injuries in all of basketball. The Rockets are taking a huge risk by acquiring Wall as he and Westbrook have virtually the identical supermax contract: three-years $132 million remainings. The last time John Wall played an NBA game was back in December 26th 2018. It’s been almost 2 whole years that he hasn’t stepped on the court professionally. Considering that, there isn’t telling how valuable and efficient he will be for the Rockets the upcoming season, hoe durable he will remain or how well will he adapt to his new team and teammates. The last season where Wall played, back in 2018, he played 32 games and averaged 20.7 points, 8.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.
The Wizards hadn’t found success last season as well. They had a poor record of only 25 wins along with 47 losses. Even though they were invited to the NBA ‘Bubble’ restart at Orlando, they couldn’t make it to the playoffs.
One cannot say as of now if this was a good trade for both the teams. But, in order for Houston’s move to rebuild, they are definitely headed in the right direction. Whereas, for Wizards, after acquiring another All-Str guard, they would look to aim for that Eastern Conference playoffs spot.
