For the third time in three years, Russell Westbrook is on the move. The Washington Wizards are trading the “Triple-double King” along with two future second-round picks to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Wizards are receiving Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrel and No. 22 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. The Lakers are getting a 2024 and 2028 second-round pick in addition to Westbrook.
After one season with the Wizards, Westbrook wanted to play elsewhere according to Charania. The Lakers were his preferred choice. A Los Angeles native, Westbrook gets to play in his hometown and alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in hopes of winning the all elusive NBA title.
Westbrook was traded to the Wizards in December for John Wall and a protected first-round draft pick. In his lone season in Washington, Westbrook averaged a triple-double for the fourth time in his career with 22.2 points, 11.7 assists and 11.5 rebounds.
He recorded 38 triple-doubles during the season, his 13th in the NBA, and surpassed Oscar Robertson for the most triple-doubles all-time in NBA history with 184. Westbrook seemed to fit right in with the team helping then-head coach Scott Brooks impact the culture.
However, following Brooks’ departure from the Wizards, the writing seemed on the wall for Westbrook. Brooks coached him for seven seasons in Oklahoma City in addition to one with Washington. Thus, him leaving the Wizards seemingly cast a doubt in Westbrook’s future with the WIzards.
The Lakers will be Westbrook’s fourth different team in the last four seasons. He played 11 seasons with the Thunder before being traded to the Houston Rockets to join James Harden in 2019. He was traded to the Wizards in 2020. Now, he’ll head back to his native LA to play with the Lakers.
For the Wizards, they clear a huge contract off the books. Westbrook had over $91 million and two years remaining on his contract. Instead, the Wizards get three reasonable contracts with quality players.
Kuzma, who has struggled through his first four seasons, has a three-year, $39 million extension that will start this season. Harrell had a $9.72 million player option for 2021-22 season. However, he opted in with the idea of being traded out of Los Angeles.
Caldwell-Pope is in the second year of a three-year $39.1 million deal. His third season is only partially guaranteed, if he is waived by June 28, 2022, according to Spotrac.
Those contracts could leave the window open for Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard to flip for another trade. In the meantime, Washington gains three pieces in an attempt to bolster the depth on their roster.
In four seasons, Kuzma has averaged 15.2 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 44.8% from the field, including 33.8% from three. Harrell was the 2020 Sixth Man of the Year while with the LA Clippers.
His lone season with the Lakers proved to be disappointing as he fell out of the rotation down the stretch of the season and playoffs. However, he did put up solid numbers. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 62.2% from the field in 69 games.
Caldwell-Pope may be the three-and-D guy Washington has been yearning for quite some time. Last season, his fourth with the Lakers, he averaged 9.7 points while shooting 43.1% from the field and an impressive 41.0%% from three.
