Lakers: Russell Westbrook for John Wall was Still In Play At Deadline
Turns out, the Lakers did have an opportunity to deal Russell Westbrook at the deadline. The cost of doing business was just too high.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported on Thursday evening that the Houston Rockets reached out about trading John Wall for Russell Westbrook. The price of admission? Same as it was weeks ago - the Lakers 2027 first-round pick.
Westbrook-for-Wall has been a topic of conversation since mid-January. Why? Because the money adds up folks in an equation that’s hard to solve.
Both guards signed supermax extensions in the summer of 2017. They’re roughly owed the same amount of money and they each have just one year remaining on their contracts.
Next year is the final year of their contracts. Wall is owed $47.4M while Westbrook is owed $47M.
In a landscape where it was hard to find a trade destination for Westbrook, Houston was one of the few landing spots.
The fact that John Wall is a client of the same agency as LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Klutch Sports, only added fuel to the fire that a second rendition of a Westbrook-for-Wall could happen.
In the end, the Lakers weren’t willing to cough up their 2027 first-round pick. The uncertainty of where this Lakers team will be in five years outweighed the desire to see if Wall was a better fit in LA.
This doesn’t mean that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka won’t include that pick in future trades. The Lakers are notorious for avoiding first round draft picks like the plague. They also have the titles to prove that a championship team doesn’t need to be drafted.
Presently, the Lakers are four games under .500 for the first time this year. Fans were clamoring for a significant trade, especially one the included Westbrook playing elsewhere. Especially after the devastating loss to the Junior Varsity Blazers on the eve of the trade deadline.
Two roads diverged for the purple and gold, they’re hoping their decision makes all the difference.
