Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Rockets fleeced the Washington Wizards in a trade in the process of trying to keep James Harden happy enough to stay in Houston. On Wednesday they were able to trade Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for John Wall. They also walked out of the joint with a lottery-protected 2023 first-round draft pick.
The 2023 first-round pick is lottery protected for the Wizards. That’s means that if it doesn’t shake in that year, it has a succession of protections that include picks Nos. 1-12 in 2024, picks 1-10 in 2025 and picks 1-8 in 2026. If it hasn’t come through as a first-round pick to the Rockets by 2026, it becomes a second-round pick in each of 2026 and 2027, according to my man’s and nem.
So the Rockets get rid of Young Russ which was a complete disaster in the only year he was in Houston to pick up John Wall and a first round pick. Even if Wall doesn’t work out they’ve got a first round pick that they didn’t have a few days ago. Most teams weren’t willing to give up players and a first round pick for Russ let’s just keep it real.
Not sure what Washington was thinking but it’s Washington so that would probably explain it. Russ doesn’t make them better and now Bradley Beal’s gotta deal with wrestling over the ball with this dun. Beal could become a free agent in 2021 so if he’s not happy he’s going to bounce.
So why make that move? We all know that he’s not going to be happy and Russ isn’t going to make your team any better. And you’ve still got to pay that dun $131 million. In reality, after this season the Wizards could be without Wall and Beal and looking at Russ dribbling the air out of the ball.
Maybe they were simply trying to sell tickets or something. They know that they aren’t going to win any time soon and Russ will get folks into seats, well, after this pandemic is over. They can’t think that he’s going to become a different player at this point. He’s a grown man that’s been paid handsomely for doing what he does. He’s not changing.
That’s like asking Ben Simmons to develop a jumper. Why? He got extremely rich without one. Not everybody is in it to win championships bruh and only so many teams have the ability to do it anyway. Most of these cats are cool with the bread and it’s merely a job. Washington is in business to do business so they’ve got to sell tickets. John Wall probably wasn’t selling enough tickets for them so they’ll see how Russ moves the gate.
I feel sorry for ole Bradley though. Stop me when I start lyin’!
