Trade Westbrook And A Future First-Round Pick For John Wall

Only three players in the league are set to make more money than Russell Westbrook ($47 million) next season: Stephen Curry ($48 million), James Harden ($47.3 million), and John Wall ($47.3 million).

However, of these three players, John Wall is the only one that is available and he too has a player option for the 2022-23 season that he most likely will not decline, making him the perfect trade partner in a deal involving Russell Westbrook. 

At the trade deadline, the Lakers actually pursued a trade with the Rockets involving a swap of Westbrook and Wall, but the Rockets were wanting some added value in this trade, especially since they would not gain anything from acquiring Westbrook and then buying him out of his contract. 

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne, the deal at the deadline could have been done for a first-round pick from Los Angeles, but also added that a pick swap could have been just as good for the Rockets to take back. 

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Seeing as they have no use for Russell Westbrook, the Rockets would be doing the Lakers a favor by trading John Wall to them, hence why they would want a future first-round pick. GM Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office were unwilling to give up this kind of value though, which is why no deal was made this season. 

Heading into the offseason though, the Lakers are going to be extremely motivated to move Westbrook’s contract, which could result in them just parting ways with whatever the Houston Rockets would want to take a stab at John Wall. 

After all, Wall is not going to be worse than Westbrook has been in Los Angeles, which is why they could be willing to take another swing at this trade proposal with the Rockets.