Russell Westbrook Trade: Lakers agree to take Wizards’ former MVP, per report

[ad_1]

The Washington Wizards traded Russell Westbrook’s second-round picks in 2024 and 2028 with the Los Angeles Lakers versus Kyle Kuzma, Kentavius ​​Caldwell Pope and Montrezel Harrell, and ranked 22nd overall, according to athlete Shams Charania. It was reported earlier on Thursday that Westbrook wanted to trade and that Los Angeles was his preferred destination.

Earlier Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Harrell will pick the final year of his contract for $9.7 million. The Lakers needed Harrell to sign up for salary purposes in a potential deal. Westbrook is set to make over $44 million next season, so every penny counts in living up to his number. Kuzma, Caldwell, Bob and Harrell combine to make nearly $36 million.

Please check the subscription box to acknowledge that you wish to subscribe.

Thank you for your registration! Monitor your inbox.

sorry! There was an error processing your subscription.

Reportedly, the witches are still planning to keep Bradley Bell, according to Lugnarowski. The idea for them would be to create future flexibility to retool the menu around it. Bale could become a free agent next season.

On paper, Westbrook is an odd fit in Los Angeles. The Lakers ranked 24 on 3 points and 21 on 3 points last season. Westbrook is a notorious 3-point shooter. He’s only made 30.5 percent of his career attempts, limiting the distance between LeBron James and Anthony Davis as they lead to the basket. This has already been an issue for the past two seasons.

But the Lakers were desperately looking for a secondary playmaker to help relieve the pressure of ball-handling from James. Westbrook has led the NBA in assists in three of the past four seasons. He may not be a shooter, but he’s a dynamic scorer who will make the Lakers more lethal in the transition and on the glass. This makes it an imperfect and risky addition, but one that has a great deal of height.

Westbrook was born in Los Angeles. He played collectively at the University of California. The Lakers will be his fourth team in the past four seasons, but they may be his best chance of winning the championship.

[ad_2]