Russell Westbrook has been featured in trade rumors for the Los Angeles Lakers with their move for the point guard not having paid off the way it was expected to. One of the primary links has been to Westbrook’s former team in the Houston Rockets, who have been looking to move on from John Wall.
And now NBA insider Marc Spears has provided some insight into a potential trade between the two teams on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast, explaining that a Wall-Westbrook trade is the only realistic option the Lakers have of moving on from Westbrook. Spears also mentioned that there are some other offers on the table, but none have a better chance of materializing than the one with the Rockets.
“I was told that they have a couple on the table, several on the table, but the only one that’s really has some, you know, realistic potential to it is with the Lakers for Russ. They actually make, I don’t know if it’s nearly to the same dollar, but a similar salary, so you can trade them one-for-one without including anybody else. That 2027 Laker pick that you mentioned before, that first-round pick, seems to be pretty coveted, and I would expect it to be included in such a deal. But John’s in Miami. He’s been working out. He actually asked the Rockets for permission to be in Miami so he could be near his kids and focus on working out.”
“I’ve basically heard that there’s a couple other possibilities, but they’re more pie-in-the-sky possibilities, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility for this one to happen. To me, I think that as of today, this is the only trade for John Wall. If it happens, and Westbrook does come back, the Rockets get somebody that at least they know.
There was a report on Monday that suggested that if Westbrook is traded to the Rockets then they would go into buyout talks with the veteran superstar. In any case, Anthony Davis is expected back for the Lakers this week and the franchise may want to give it one more shot to make it work with all their stars available.
