The Los Angeles Lakers’ pursuit of a third star has brought Russell Westbrook home to L.A.
Hours before Thursday’s NBA draft, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers had agreed to send guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, forward Kyle Kuzma, center Montrezl Harrell and the overall No. 22 pick to the Washington Wizards for Westbrook and two future second-round picks.
As Westbrook heads to his fourth team in as many years after previously spending the first 11 seasons of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, does he still qualify as that kind of star? How will his game fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis? And what does dealing Westbrook mean for Bradley Beal’s future with the Wizards? Let’s take a look.
The deal
Lakers get: Westbrook, 2024 second-round pick, 2028 second-round pick
Wizards get: Kuzma, Harrell, Caldwell-Pope, 2021 first-round pick (No. 22)
Los Angeles Lakers: D
This trade reminds me of a classic scene from the sitcom “Arrested Development” that has since become a meme: Psychiatrist Tobias Funke notes to his wife, Lindsay, that an open marriage has never worked for anyone he has counseled … “but it might work for us.”
Such is the history of trades for Westbrook, now seemingly a scheduled part of the NBA offseason. In July 2019, it was the Houston Rockets sending Chris Paul, two protected first-round picks and two swaps to the Thunder for Westbrook. After a lopsided second-round loss to the top-seeded Lakers, both Westbrook and fellow All-Star guard James Harden asked out of Houston.
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Enter the Wizards, who swapped their own high-paid point guard (John Wall) for Westbrook, giving up a protected first-round pick in the deal. Although the Wizards rallied to advance from the NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament, they suffered a lopsided first-round loss to the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. Now Westbrook apparently sought yet another move.
In part, Westbrook’s stints in Houston and D.C. ended because he was fleeing sinking ships, something that won’t be an issue with the Lakers. There’s zero reason to think James or Davis will ask out of L.A. like Harden did with the Rockets and Beal might with the Wizards this offseason. Still, dealing for Westbrook wasn’t enough to prevent either of those teams from taking on additional water.
Let’s consider the Lakers’ “it might work for us” reasoning. Westbrook was legitimately outstanding for stretches in both Houston and Washington. With the Rockets, that came during the six weeks between Clint Capela’s injury and the NBA’s pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over that stretch, Westbrook averaged 31 PPG on 52.5% shooting, the best efficiency of his NBA career.
After dealing with a quadriceps injury early in the 2020-21 season, Westbrook was a key part of the Wizards’ play-in push. Over the final six weeks of the regular season, Westbrook averaged 23.0 points, 14.0 assists and 13.5 rebounds, unprecedented numbers even for the first player to average a triple-double in a season since Oscar Robertson.
Watching Westbrook late in the season, I was struck by the pressure he still puts on defenses with his relentless attacking in transition and early offense. At 32 (he’ll turn 33 in November), Westbrook remains as dominant a sheer athlete as any with the ball in his hands. He was a driving force behind the Wizards leading the league after the All-Star break with 57.4 points in the paint per game, according to NBA Advanced Stats. Westbrook assisted on 446 shots in the paint in the regular season, per Second Spectrum tracking, more than 100 more than the next-best passer (Trae Young with 343).
Adding a third elite shot creator to James and Davis gives the Lakers the safety net they lacked last season when both stars were injured. They hoped Dennis Schroder would be that player, but Schroeder came up lacking in that role and is no Westbrook.
The question is how Westbrook operates in a half-court offense with the Lakers’ stars, particularly if they continue deferring to Davis’ desire to play primarily at power forward. Remember, Westbrook’s surge in Houston coincided with the Rockets moving to a five-out system without a traditional big man, creating ample space for him to attack. And while Washington played more conventionally, the Wizards’ offense was far better with stretch-4 Davis Bertans on the court alongside Westbrook.
The Lakers not only don’t have that kind of knockdown shooter, they’ve given up their two leaders in made 3-pointers (Kuzma with 137 and Caldwell-Pope with 120) in this trade. Believe it or not, James is now the only Lakers player under contract who made more than 100 triples last season. Consider that two teams finished last season with only one player on the roster with at least 100 3-pointers: the lottery-bound Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
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Perhaps the Lakers can pull off a sign-and-trade sending Schroder, an unrestricted free agent, to another team for a quality shooter on the wing. If not, the $5.9 million taxpayer midlevel exception will be their only real option for adding shooting from newcomers making more than the veteran’s minimum. And the Lakers might need to consider using the midlevel to address the center position, where only Marc Gasol is under contract for next season.
Playoff shortcomings were another common thread between Westbrook’s single seasons with the Rockets and Wizards. Coming back from a quadriceps injury in the 2020 playoffs, Westbrook averaged 17.9 PPG on 42% shooting. Last postseason, he averaged a triple-double but on dismal 33.3% shooting. As much as the Lakers needed more shot creation to get through the 82-game schedule, playoff performance is far more important for them. Teams have shown the ability to stop Westbrook with a game plan going into a seven-game series.
If both this trade and one for Buddy Hield were on the table for the Lakers, I’d have gone with Hield. He’s younger, a clearer fit, on a far less expensive contract and wouldn’t have cost them Caldwell-Pope. Maybe the Lakers will be the team to figure out the post-Thunder Westbrook fit.
Much more likely, they’ll find out the same thing as the Funkes: It never works.
Washington Wizards: A
This is as good a conclusion to the Westbrook era as the Wizards could possibly have hoped. Dealing him for three contributors replenishes the depth they were set to lose in free agency while also saving more than $6 million in 2021-22 salary and replacing the draft pick they potentially sent to Houston.
For the moment, Washington’s roster has a glaring hole at point guard. The two players who backed up and played alongside Westbrook, Raul Neto and Ish Smith, are both unrestricted free agents. The Wizards have several options now. They saved enough to potentially re-sign Smith using early Bird rights and also use their $9.5 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception or could expand this deal into a three-teamer in order to bring back a point guard making more than the midlevel via sign-and-trade.
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• Cunningham No. 1; Suggs to Magic
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I’d also now expect Washington to look at a point guard with one of its two first-round picks. Harrell could also be a trade option for a point guard with starting center Thomas Bryant returning from an ACL tear to join trade-deadline steal Daniel Gafford.
Is a roster with solid depth at every position save point guard but no stars enough to convince Beal to stay? I’d imagine probably not. This looks like a souped-up version of the 2019-20 Wizards team without an injured Wall that was 24-40 when the season paused. Another play-in appearance is a realistic possibility for Washington with Beal, but barring a quality addition at point guard, the Wizards are no closer to contending this season. (The 2022-23 season, when they could create nearly $20 million in cap space if Caldwell-Pope declines his player option, might be a slightly different story.)
I don’t think this move alters Washington’s trajectory as a franchise. Still, given the possibility the Wizards ended up underwater on the Westbrook contract down the road, getting a first-rounder in return made this trade well worth doing.
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