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Washington Wizards: 3 Russell Westbrook storylines to watch this season

By Jack Skolnik

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 29: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Houston Rockets looks on during the first half of the game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on February 29, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 29: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Houston Rockets looks on during the first half of the game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on February 29, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards Bradley Beal and the Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /

1. Can Russell Westbrook fit next to Bradley Beal?

The biggest storyline to watch with Russell Westbrook will be how he fits alongside Bradley Beal.

GM Tommy Sheppard has spent a fair amount of time this offseason reiterating not only that the Wizards will not be trading Bradley Beal but that they intend to build him around him moving forward.

One of the worries about Wall was whether he would come back and accept a role alongside Beal. Westbrook is a high usage player who has been known to put up a lot of shots and wants the ball in his hands. Last season, he posted a usage percentage of 34.4. Wall has never finished a season with a higher than 30.6 usage percentage. So how will Westbrook fair next to Beal?

With all signs pointing towards Beal being the head honcho, the squad will quickly need to figure out who the top dog will be and establish a pecking order.

Hopefully, Westbrook’s ability to coexist with James Harden (36.3 usage percentage last season) will bode well for his future with Beal. Alongside Harden, another high usage player who needs the ball in his hands a lot to be effective, Westbrook still managed to go out and average 27/8/7 last season while cruising to another All-NBA bid.

A move of this caliber doesn’t get made if the front office doesn’t think the Westbrook and Beal can coexist. It almost certainly doesn’t happen without Beal’s signing off on it either. For what it’s worth, Bill Simmons said Beal was pushing for the Westbrook trade behind the scenes when the initial rumors first broke.

Westbrook is a great player. A 9x All-Star and 9x All-NBA player who is still one of the best in the league. So if he and Beal can figure out how to make it work, we could be talking about an excellent team. Having both Beal and Westbrook at full power, able to play competently off of each other, will be a serious problem for the Eastern Conference.

How well Westbrook and Beal can play together will make or break the Wizards’ season. Whether this goes positively or negatively, it will be interesting to watch how it all unfolds.

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