Washington Wizards: Pros and Cons of a Russell Westbrook sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers

Pros to a Russell Westbrook sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers

Getting rid of Russell Westbrook means the Washington Wizards would also be free from his enormous contract. Westbrook will make $44 million next season and has a player option worth $47 million for the 2022-23 season. There’s only so much team-building that the Wizards can do when they have over $80 million devoted to Westbrook and Bradley Beal combined. With that money gone, the Wizards will have the ability to do some roster construction around Beal without being handcuffed to Westbrook.

The Wizards would also be getting considerably younger and deeper with this trade. Westbrook is 32 with a ton of miles on him. Dennis Schroder would be the oldest player in the Lakers’ package at 28 years old and would provide some much-needed defense in the backcourt. Kuzma is 25. He and Rui Hachimura could become a dynamic forward duo. And Horton-Tucker is just 20. After playing just six games in the 2019-20 seasons, the past season was essentially his rookie year. Despite being far from a focal point of the Laker’s offense, THT showed flashes of legitimate scoring potential. He scored 15 or more points 13 times and exceeded twenty points twice in 65 games.

Depth was not a strength for the Wizards last season. In the playoffs, Davis Bertans and Ish Smith were the only non-centers that got minutes off the bench. This trade would immediately give them more lineup flexibility if nothing else.