Dallas Mavericks Receive: G Russell Westbrook

Washington Wizards Receive: G Jalen Brunson, G Josh Richardson, F James Johnson, C Dwight Powell, DAL 2022 2nd Round Pick, DAL 2024 1st Round Pick

Hypothetically, if this trade was to occur, a third team would likely be involved because Washington would not want to acquire $40M in salaries when trading away Westbrook and they do not want to trade one player for four players. 

Dallas would have to trade a lot of their role players and bench in order to acquire Russell Westbrook, who does not have much value anymore. He is still a high-level, All-Star caliber player, but a lot of teams look at Westbrook as a “cancer” to their locker room and a guy who just will not fit in since he plays his own style of basketball.

Any team that Westbrook has ever been on, he tries to take over the game and control the team, which does not sit well with a lot of teams around the league. This is why his value is at an all-time low and why the Wizards would not get as much in return as they would hope. 

Overall though, while they would not be acquiring all four players, Washington would have their pick with some intriguing talents. Josh Richardson has always been a reliable “3-and-D” wing and Jalen Brunson is a young guard with a lot of potential. Given 25+ minutes per game, Brunson could be a very reliable and solid point guard for the Wizards. 

James Johnson and Dwight Powell are not as intriguing trade options as the first two Mavs players, but each can still contribute to Washington since they do not have a frontcourt. With Thomas Bryant out for the year, the Wizards basically have nobody besides Robin Lopez in their frontcourt, which is why Johnson and Powell could be two key additions for them. 

It seems crazy to believe Washington would give up on their Westbrook experiment this soon, but then again, nobody saw the Rockets trading him away after one season. If they continue to lose, it is not out of the question that the Wizards would look to trade Westbrook before they look to trade Bradley Beal, which is why this trade with the Mavericks makes sense.