Where Would Russell Westbrook Go?
Assuming they are interested in moving Russ for John Wall, the big question now presented to the Lakers is where would Russell Westbrook go? The Houston Rockets traded him a year ago and are not going to want him back with them rebuilding and it is not like you can just trade a $44M contract anywhere.
Given how his value has declined over the years and how teams look down on Westbrook as a potential “plague” to their locker room, it is really hard to pinpoint a team that would be interested in trading for him.
When you look around the league, no rebuilding team like the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and Detroit Pistons are going to want him and no championship-contending team can trade for him, so where does that leave the Los Angeles Lakers?
Only three possible destinations come to mind and all three of them may not ultimately be feasible.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Russell Westbrook Optimistic Current Adversity Will Pay Off For Lakers
The first possible destination is that this could end up being a three-team deal with the Philadelphia 76ers involving Ben Simmons. John Wall goes to Los Angeles, Ben Simmons to Houston, and Russell Westbrook to Philadelphia.
The money works, the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers Lakers would be happy, but it is very hard to believe that the 76ers would be happy pairing Westbrook with Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.
The second possibility is that the Rockets just brings back Westbrook and then he becomes their problem. This is the best-case scenario for the Lakers, but there is a 0.001% chance that the Rockets would want to bring Russ back only to bench him, something that Houston is currently doing with John Wall.
The last possibility that is a stretch, but could actually work, is moving Russell Westbrook for John Wall, but sending Westbrook to New Orleans as part of a three, possibly four-team trade. The Pelicans have been terrible this season and while they have Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, this team needs a third star and more importantly, they need to fix their backcourt.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Russell Westbrook Optimistic Current Adversity Will Pay Off For Lakers
How the Pelicans would move pieces and salaries around to bring in Westbrook is a whole different story, but the fit may be crazy enough to actually work.
Ingram and Williamson are both very athletic, young players, and given the abilities Russ has to push the pace and run in transition, maybe becoming one of the faster-paced teams in the league is something that would be intriguing to the Pelicans.
Again, take this with a grain of salt because it is unlikely to happen, but New Orleans could hypothetically get rid of Jaxson Hayes, Josh Hart, Devonte’ Graham, and Tomas Satoransky to make this trade work. Most of those players are ones the Houston Rockets could be interested in bringing in as part of their rebuild.
Right now, these are the only three scenarios that could send John Wall to the Los Angeles Lakers, but they are three scenarios that Los Angeles needs to try and make happen.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Russell Westbrook Optimistic Current Adversity Will Pay Off For Lakers
They can no longer go on just having Russell Westbrook do what he wants on the court and if he is unwilling to change like he said he would, then they are just destined to lose in the first round of the playoffs again, that is if they make the playoffs given their lack of success on the floor!
