Woj: Russ to Wizards, Wall to Rockets

HornetJail · Post #41 » by **HornetJail** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:32 am

what a rotten deal for Houston, I can't see any upside to this

Clipsz 4 Life · Post #42 » by **Tim Lehrbach** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:32 am

How many teams have an MLE or larger amount of money left to spend? If Houston was this desperate to dump Westbrook and he was this insistent on getting out of Houston, why not just agree to a buyout and waive him? Seems likely he could have landed an MLE-sized or greater contract for the next two or three years, so why not agree to chop, say, $15-20 million off the contract? That's potentially huge savings (which could either be pocketed or spent on healthy players) vs. paying Wall. Westbrook gets his choice of suitors. Just a thought, and maybe not a smart one.

(To preempt: I guess I know the answer. Dead money is dreaded, so even under the scenario that Wall never plays again, he's at least potentially moveable, while a waived Westbrook is stuck on the payroll. I'm just wondering whether, for a team that either needs healthy players to try to win with Harden, or is blowing it up and might as well save money, trading for Wall will actually work out better than waiving Westbrook.)

Post #43 » by **HartfordWhalers** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:34 am

K_chile22 wrote:
HartfordWhalers wrote:Want to see pick protections first; but knee jerk is win win.

Washington gets a new backcourt mate for Beal, Houston gets a new one for Harden (if he stays).
That's assuming Wall can stay on the floor though. I don't think a lotto protected first is worth that risk for Houston

Read on Twitter

Gets lower than that though.

And while Wall might not play, Westbrook could fall off much worse sooner as a worry. I have it as a solid move by Houston.

Post #44 » by **HartfordWhalers** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:35 am

Oh, screw it.

I will go ahead and call my stake. Houston won.

CptCrunch · Post #45 » by **CptCrunch** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:37 am

Who wants James Harden yo...

Rafael Stone's phone be ringing non-stop now.

kobe_vs_jordan · Post #46 » by **kobe_vs_jordan** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:39 am

Kind of funny, Houston took a bad contract in Paul and made it worst in Westbrook and might have did the same thing again with Wall contract.

babyjax13 · Post #47 » by **babyjax13** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:44 am

HartfordWhalers wrote:Oh, screw it.

I will go ahead and call my stake. Houston won.

I think both teams did pretty good, to be honest. Westbrook Beal seems like a fun combo, but I think that Wall is the better player, even if he's not all the way back, but there is a pretty substantial risk there that Washington no longer needs to carry.

the_process · Post #48 » by **the_process** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:47 am

I think this makes Beal ask for a trade at some point within the next year. If he didn't get along with Wall, he and Westbrook will be oil and water.

Hfalorthorrin · Post #49 » by **Hfalorthorrin** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:47 am

I feel like once Presti learned about this trade; he went over to his cooler; popped open a PBR; and laughed.

My gut says Houston lost this trade.

TheNetsFan · Post #50 » by **TheNetsFan** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:48 am

Westbrook is much better/safer than Wall. This is a win for the Wizards. I fully expect another CP3 situation where Russ rehabs his value and gets a better return in a trade next year.

I expect Houston to struggle and deal a disgruntled Harden mid season.

the_process · Post #51 » by **the_process** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:55 am

TheNetsFan wrote:Westbrook is much better/safer than Wall. This is a win for the Wizards. I fully expect another CP3 situation where Russ rehabs his value and gets a better return in a trade next year.

I expect Houston to struggle and deal a disgruntled Harden mid season.

Safer, sure. Better? Not sure about that.

Jordan Syndrome · Post #52 » by **Jordan Syndrome** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:57 am

HartfordWhalers wrote:Oh, screw it.

I will go ahead and call my stake. Houston won.

I'm in the same camp.

Jordan Syndrome · Post #53 » by **Jordan Syndrome** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 1:58 am

TheNetsFan wrote:Westbrook is much better/safer than Wall. This is a win for the Wizards. I fully expect another CP3 situation where Russ rehabs his value and gets a better return in a trade next year.

I expect Houston to struggle and deal a disgruntled Harden mid season.

So you expect Westbrook to miraculously develop a mid-range shot, instincts to be a floor general and passer in the same tier as Chris Paul and put in the work defensively on a consistent basis?

Good luck. I'd rather take my odds on the Knicks winning the Championship.

Mr B · Post #54 » by **Mr B** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:02 am

Damn! That’s a lot for John Wall.

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Mr B · Post #55 » by **Mr B** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:06 am

I didn’t realize that Russ is 2 years older than John Wall.

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Dr Positivity · Post #56 » by **Dr Positivity** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:07 am

Houston's new GM is doing well

MasterIchiro · Post #57 » by **MasterIchiro** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:14 am

So crippling to a franchise when 40 million is tied up in one talent and that player misses significant time for what seems like years.

I like this for the Wizards because they secured their investment. Wall is the better player if healthy but I will take the player without the traumatic injury any day. No need to argue who's gonna play better who's gonna get injured. The Wizards will be getting at least some value out of that 40 million. Ball + Westbrook is nice and they have complementary pieces in Bertans, Avdija and Hachimura. That 8th seed will be no cakewalk for the Hawks and Hornets. Looks like my Hornets have a much better chance of reentering the lottery than we did before this trade.

I believe Harden stays. It's a good deal for the Rockets if Wall can stay healthy and get back to something closely resembling his pre-injury self.

MasterIchiro · Post #58 » by **MasterIchiro** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:17 am

Also kudos to the Knicks for backing off. They don't have enough bad salary to justify taking in Westbrook on that bloated contract.

They remain in the hunt for a point guard.

kingmob · Post #59 » by **kingmob** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:19 am

Great trade for Houston getting rid of Westbrick. Wall even at 80% is a better team player and has a much much higher IQ that is required to be a PG. I hate Harden the way he has played last few years under D'antoni(just hated his system as well), but this team might actually be fun to watch if the coach actually has a good ball-sharing system in place and makes James play to his position.They need another good interior defender though, as neither Cousins or Woods going to help with that much.

For all of those think that Washington might make the playoffs in the East...they might as the 7th or 8th seed, which is terrible for the long haul. That teams is years away from fielding a talented team, and they are much better off getting a few more good lottery picks. Getting westbrick does nothing for that, just stalls your progression.

Post #60 » by **loserX** » Thu Dec 3, 2020 2:23 am

K_chile22 wrote:Apparently Russ didn't report to camp. not sure if it was because he just didn't want to or because the trade was already in the works. Apparently Wall posted an IG story with tuckers shoes or something hours ago, so seems like this was in the works before this reporting?

Edit: for those curious, harden did report and has been in houston for awhile already before camp

According to Woj, not really:

Read on Twitter

Looks a lot more like the Westbrook holdout came first and Houston decided enough was enough.

Who won the trade?