The Washington Wizards were a part of arguably the biggest trade this NBA offseason, as Russell Westbrook was traded for the third consecutive offseason.
Westbrook was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets in 2019, then from the Rockets to the Wizards in 2020. Now, he is heading back home to the west coast to play with the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to The Athletic, a prescription-based website, Westbrook was telling people for weeks that he was heading back to the west coast. When those hopes seemed to be fading, he asked Ted Leonsis for a favor; get him to the Lakers. The Wizards obliged and Westbrook was traded in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
This avoided another near-miss for Westbrook. Two years ago he thought he was heading to the Los Angeles Clippers to team up with Kawhi Leonard. Instead, Leonard wanted Paul George, Westbrook’s Thunder teammate at the time, and it was George, not Westbrook, that was traded to the Clippers.
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Now, Westbrook has gotten his wish and landed in Los Angeles. But, before he asked Ted Leonsis for a trade to the Lakers, he pushed Bradley Beal to request a trade as well. Westbrook was hopeful that if Beal didn’t at least request his own trade, he would support Westbrook in his efforts to head back home.
“And before Westbrook resorted to calling Leonsis, he had tried to convince Beal in the weeks leading up to the draft that they should both ask out of Washington, according to sources. Short of Beal showing a desire to also request a trade, Westbrook was hopeful Beal would at least support his efforts to get to L.A. — which, sources said, Beal did.”
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Seemingly everyone has a trade request for Bradley Beal out of Washington except Beal himself. He likes the organization and for now, wants to remain part of it.
It seems as if everything worked out for all parties involved. Russell Westbrook gets to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Wizards received a solid package for him and Beal remains in Washington.
