Russell Westbrook is now headed to Washington after spending only one season with the Houston Rockets. His association with James Harden was anything but good and now the Rockets shipped Brodie to Washington, where the Wizards are waiting for him. John Wall is on his way to Houston in a trade that doesn’t seem to bring major changes for either team.
However, when you think about the moves that Houston made last season and compare them to this one, it’s crazy to see how things changed in over a year for the Rockets and Russ. During the 2019 NBA offseason, the Rockets sent Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two pick swaps to Oklahoma City in exchange for Westbrook.
Over a year after, they sent Westbrook to Washington and only received John Wall and a first-rounder. In the end, they sent Ty Jerome, Trevor Ariza, TJ leaf, Justin Jackson, four first-round picks, two pick swaps and three second-round picks to OKC while Westbrook only got them John Wall and a first-rounder. Sure, Wall was one of the best point guards in the game before getting injured but there is no warrant that he’d come back as the same player he once was.
Now the Rockets took another very bad contract and a late first-rounder that could become a second one depending on results. It’s unclear if Westbrook’s performances, the rush to send him out of Houston, or just the Rockets’ front office doing a bad job are responsible for this, but nobody is happy with how things were handled in this trade.
Imagine if they also shipped James Harden somewhere else and they don’t get what a player like Harden can get them. Total madness for their fans. Well, now it’s time to see what Wall can bring to Houston and what Westbrook is going to bring to Washington, but the clear winner of this trade are Sam Presti and the Thunder.
