Rockets open to trading John Wall for Russell Westbrook if incentivized

To the question why?

Because Wall is 31 and turning 32.....Westbrook is 33 and turning 34.

Westbrook is more desperate to play and not losing a season.
WB is a better buy out candidate. Means nothing to us; but a lot to Tilman.

 

You are not getting a truly PREMIUM Asset like a future, unprotected Laker first for EG/Wood, or anything else on our roster outside of JG.

Just look at the insane value of our 2027 Brooklyn Unprotected. Those do not grow on trees. They are the kind of picks that land you a super-duper star.

I simply can't understand why you guys would want a crap first for EG/Wood, when you can get an asset that can land you a generational player. A future, unprotected first from ANY team is f'ing gold.

 

You’re all over the place.

You’re more likely to get a late first for Gordon and same for Wood than a future unprotected first. I never said Lakers future unprotected first would be for Wood/Gordon. I said it would be for Wall. Same offer as the trade deadline with the Lakers.

I don’t know what type of pick you think we can get for Wood but it wouldn’t be great or he would’ve been traded awhile ago.

 

3 way trade

Hornets in: Russell Westbrook, Christian Wood, HOU #17 pick via Nets
Hornets out: Kelly Oubre, #13 & 15 picks

Lakers in: John Wall, Rozier or Hayward(maybe, to lazy to look at his contract)
Lakers out: Russell Westbrook

Houston in: Kelly Oubre, Hornets #13&15
Houston out: John Wall, Christian Wood, #17 via Nets

To lazy to look at hornets salaries so it might not match up but here is a rough sketch. Maybe toss Gordon to the Lakers

 

I don't see a Lakers trade happening with Russ anymore. The time for that trade to happen was at the trade deadline last season, when the Lakers were absolutely desperate. If they didn't think then that Wall could help them as a team, I don't think they feel that way now, and in the offseason if they trade for Wall, they'd trade for the player, not the contract, as both he and Westbrook are on expiring 47M deals. My guess is both Westbrook and Wall get bought out, though I expect there to be a much bigger market for Wall post buyout than the Westbrook market which may frankly be nothing. Could easily see Wall making his way back to Washington or going to a competitor like the Nuggets or Timberwolves.

 

Beggars can't be chosers.

 

But does LeGm agree with this?

 

Wood, Gordon and Nwaba for Russ and 2 future unprotected 1sts. Russ and John can sit at home and play 2k together. By next summer we take off about $90 million off of the salary cap. The Lakers can continue to provide false hopes to their fan base that the team is a championship contender again with AD, Wood, LeBron, Gordon and vet TBD as the starting five.

 

I'd do it for all that future cap space, having a slightly better than average mentor for all the young guys, and because it's Tillman's money.

 

Sources: Lakers said to be looking for a "Harden-type" package in return for Westbrook

 

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

DD

 

John should take notes from a real winner/leader and come off the bench like Curry is right now in the playoffs

I know he’s hurt but he seems like he couldn’t care less about coming off the bench. Happily letting Pool have his chance and moment. John should do the same for KPJ and Green

Somebody might actually trade for him if he shows he is still capable of helping a team win. Especially if he can help the worst team win

 

Give it up - it's not possible to trade him at this point if it's not for Westbrook. There is no other scenario where anyone can match enough salary to make that trade feasible without Houston taking a lot of bad long term salary because no one is offering a positive value contract for Wall's expiring. There are only a handful of somewhat realistic scenarios on this one and since the operation is dependent on the market, a lot of the order of operations revolve around what the Lakers do with Westbrook.

As long as they have Westbrook, there is an option for HOU trading with LA for Westbrook and gaining some asset for the privilege - LA spend roughly $44 mil in salary on Wall and Houston immediately buys out Westbrook at some sort of reduced rate to allow him to rejoin another team unless he is willing to sit on the bench like Wall did although Westbrook strikes me as not about that life. I don't think the Lakers really get much in this transaction aside from a fresh start with another player who won't help them win a title but the Lakers have made a lot of 'swing for the big name' choices in the past so you gotta keep hope alive because a future Laker pick is looking like pure gold(and purple) right now. It boils down to how delusional are the Lakers that they are a title team who just had a bad year with injuries.

Alternatively HOU could negotiate a buy out for Wall and pays whatever is negotiated. If Westbrook gets bought out/traded first, then Wall's market I think dries up and Houston is just trying to save a few bucks if possible in a Wall buy out - the goal would be negotiate saving Tillman a few bucks on paying the full $44mil and Wall gets a chance to try to establish a little value before hitting FA again in the offseason. If Westbrook remains a Laker but the Lakers aren't willing to trade for Wall, then I would imagine Wall gets bought out after the trade deadline unless he makes it worth Tillman's while to get bought out sooner by offering a deeper discount. In other words, when and how much for the buy out are probably going to be driven by what happens with Westbrook.

I would think it's fairly obvious to most basketball heads at this point that the Lakers are not even CLOSE to winning another title as presently constructed with their "stars" but they keep making short sided decisions to further dig them into the "big names win titles" paradigm so maybe they really do believe their own bullshit. It's a little concerning that they are bringing Phil Jackson in to help consult on their coaching search so who knows....

 

Yessss, I don't think Wall or Eric Gordon have ever been hurt.

 

We are in luck then, Wall was healthy all of last season!