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In a successful trade – at least in terms of name value – that has been rumored for some time now, the Washington Wizards sent John Wall and a future protected first-round pick to the Rockets in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Wednesday, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Again, this seems like a big deal for the names involved. But this trade is actually not about Westbrook or Wall, who are both on the downward slope of their careers and are remarkably similar, if not identical, players with much the same contracts. No, this business is about Bradley Beal, who wizards are clearly determined to keep and hopefully build for the long haul.
It’s no secret that Beal and Wall were ready to get away from each other. Given how much the wizards want to woo Beal, there’s no way they won’t consult him on this matter. He chose Westbrook. So are the Wizards, who see the deal from two points of view.
In the short term, they think Westbrook is better than Wall at this point, and thus gives them a better chance of getting back to the heart of what looks like a relatively open Eastern Conference race. In the long run, they believe this renewed viability will be the lure they need to convince Beal, a free agent in 2022, to stay.
On that last point, anyone who believes Russell Westbrook, at this point in his career, is the type of player, or teammate, who will inspire a second prime star in his prime to stay with a given team is wrong. . That’s not to say Beal won’t have any interest in playing with Westbrook in 2022; it just means the Wizards are going to need a lot more on the table than a guy with virtually endless options.
The elephant in the room is whether the wizards should have traded Beal already, or if they should still be looking to do so in the coming year. It seems to be out of the window now. Giving up a first-round pick, even if it’s protected, isn’t something a team would do if they were planning on throwing a rebuild.
Wizards clearly think Beal is worth building, and they give up his massive commercial value to do so. It could very well be a mistake. But Washington is now all-in, at least for the next two seasons. If Beal walks alone in 2022, the Wizards have at least put lottery protection on their 2023 first-round pick, meaning that if they stink in their first year without Beal, they’ll at least always keep their picks. it falls in the top 14.
But that’s a little consolation for a team that could have a whole host of first-round picks and young players if they were ready to take Beal now. Beal is not a # 1 option on a Championship team. You could say he’s not even a # 2 unless it’s an ensemble roster built more around depth than high-end talent.
Do wizards have other moves up their sleeve? With Westbrook, Beal and the recently signed Davis Bertans on board, would they consider packing last year’s lottery pick Rui Hachimura and this year’s lottery pick Deni Avdija for a shot at a Big? 3? My colleague Sam Quinn fired Rudy Gobert. Interesting.
Formally, Westbrook is doing much better with Beal than with James Harden. He wants to lead his own offense, and Beal is a natural partner as a traditional shooting guard and secondary playmaker, although it should be noted that in Wall’s absence Beal has transformed. into a much more self-creative player. Still, add Bertans, one of the best shooters in the world, to the Beal-Westbrook equation, and the spacing makes sense to maximize Westbrook’s downhill creation.
For me, that’s what it is. Put as good a team as possible around Beal. Wizards don’t want to back down. They want to keep Beal, and they rightly believe the only way to do that is to put a winning team on the pitch. They did it. Westbrook is much more trustworthy leading a wild side team with puncher luck than he is trying to turn his stubborn game into an established team and system. That’s why it never made sense in Houston.
In Washington, it makes a little more sense, and the Wizards are now in a position to be a rock-solid playoff team. Westbrook and Wall are similar players, but again, Beal clearly didn’t want to play with Wall and there is also uncertainty over what Wall will look like even after an Achilles breakup. The guy hasn’t played in an NBA game for almost two years. It’s a safe bet that Westbrook is a better player than Wall right now.
The Wizards are therefore all-in for the next two seasons, after which they could very well lose Beal for nothing. They, in essence, decided that the only viable route to restrain Beal was to lose him in court, as his swap didn’t seem like an option. Westbrook’s name is on the trade, but it’s all about Beal. Is this type of investment worth it? We’re about to find out.
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