The trade the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off for Russell Westbrook shocked the NBA world. Los Angeles had been working to get a trade done with the Sacramento Kings, which would have included Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and the No. 22 pick heading to Sacramento for Buddy Hield.
That trade was so close to being done, the players thought they were heading to a new city. For the Lakers players, they were, except it was cross-country to the Washington Wizards instead of Westbrook. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was also included to match salaries.
Westbrook was happy to be heading home and Washington did their best to accommodate him. When he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he thought that he was going to be returning home to play with the Los Angeles Clippers and team up with Kawhi Leonard.
Ultimately, it was Paul George who Leonard wanted to team up with and a deal was completed. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to return home again, Westbrook let it be known that if trade with Los Angeles could be done, he would love for it to happen.
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Wizards’ general manager Tommy Shepard recently cleared that up, making sure people knew Westbrook was committed to Washington and didn’t request a trade. He also shared Westbrook’s level of interest, or lack thereof, in being traded to the Clippers.
“I really have to make sure the record is straight on that,” Sheppard said in an interview with NBC Sports Washington’s Chris Miller. “Russell actually never asked to move on. He just said, ‘If I can get to the Lakers, that’d be something I would love to do. If not, I’ll be back here.’ I said, ‘What about the Clippers?’ He said, ‘Hell no.’ So Russell was happy being here and we were very grateful for him being here.”
My, how things can change in such a short time. It was only two years ago that Russell Westbrook was reportedly going to be on the move to the Clippers. Now, he wanted no part of being traded to them; it was Lakers or bust for his homecoming.
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This is yet another dig that people will be able to take at the Clippers, who are considered the younger brothers to the Lakers in Los Angeles. It will also add some more fuel to the fire in the rivalry once Leonard is healthy and able to return to the court.
