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CAN RUSSELL WESTBROOK ACTUALLY GET TRADED?

Lemme start this article off by stating this will not be a Russell Westbrook "hate" article. As I'm sure you could find those anywhere. Now, as we know the Los Angeles Lakers have been disappointing this entire season and have not lived up to any kind of expectations. At all. The Russ to LA experiment has not been any kinds of successful in any regards and it does not look any better or fixable throughout the season. And with heavy amounts of disappointment and many losses onto the season, comes trade rumors. And Russell Westbrook's name has been the biggest among them. 

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NO LOGIC BEHIND IT 

While the logic of "you'd trade Westbrook before you'd trade AD or LeBron" is obviously 100% accurate and logical  the how is the problem. Russell Westbrook is 33 turning 34 next season and has a $47M dollar player option to return next season. Westbrook knows he is probably not getting that kind of money in free agency so the odds say he is accepting that player option. That means the Lakers will have Russ, on a one year deal for the season then entering unrestricted free agency at 35. Obviously yes Russell Westbrook can literally be traded but having a $47M dollar price tag to em will be difficult. A big reason why Westbrook as a Laker is the way that Russ plays does not work well with LeBron James. Russ at this age in his career is not really going to change his game significantly in order to win and compete for a championship. A Russ trade has to also make sense for both sides. Yes, that means a team has to call Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and want Westbrook or Pelinka call a team and they agree to have Westbrook  on their team in exchange for a player. There's not many teams I can say are calling for Westbrook and saying this is the guy we need on our team to be taken to the next level, not many. It is to be proven if you're a team that wants to win a championship, Westbrook is not going to be your guy. And in my opinion, the perfect situation for Russ to go in is similar to playing with the Wizards and Oklahoma City, where he essentially had no expectations at all and a championship was no where in the ball park of expectation or even goal. I'm of the belief and have faith in Russell Westbrook is better than what this season shows us. I think that it is more so just a terrible fit than calling Westbrook a terrible player. Is he by any means perfect or the most efficient, no but you know what you are getting in Russell Westbrook. Eliminating the championship contenders, that leaves the rest of the league. Majority of the teams in the league has their point guard position in tact, as that is one of the most needed and warranted positions in the league. So given Russ' situation, I boiled it down to two possible situations Russ could be realistic if a Westbrook trade ever goes down.

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HOUSTON ROCKETS

A Russell Westbrook trade is very difficult to make sense for both sides, in my opinion. But one of the more talked about candidates is the Rockets and John Wall. As J Wall is with Klutch Sports and contract matches Westbrooks. Reportedly Houston offered John Wall in exchange for Westbrook at the 2022 trade deadline, but the Lakers had to attach a 2027 first round pick in exchange for taking on Russ' contract which LA refused. While this could be looked into in the offseason, we have to think about the Rockets sides of things. Houston will likely have another high draft pick this year who will need his amount of touches. Houston already has plenty of guards in Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr, and Josh Christopher. With guards like Eric Gordon, Garrison Matthews, and Dennis Schröder who need playing time as well. Trading and playing Westbrook could hinder the development of guys like Josh Christopher and possibly the draft pick Houston drafts rather its a guard, forward, or big. But on the bright side it could give Houston an actual ball handler that takes playmaking and point guards duties off of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr and have KPJ go back to a 6th man role which he excelled in, in Cleveland. At that same time Russ is a very ball dominant player and if the ball is not in his hands he is not much effective. So Houston in this situation would have to figure out how to let Russ play while not hindering the development of guys like Jalen Green and KPJ who are obviously the future of the young team. But like I said due to them already have been traded for each other before, ironically it could happen again to give Lakers a veteran that fits a bit closer to LeBron and AD while giving Houston a point guard next to KPJalen. 

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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

The other team I could see Westbrook ending up on is OKC. I say ending up and not traded because my guess is there would have to be some sort of three teamer that sends the Lakers a decent player in return. As the OKC Thunder could take on Russ' contract with no need to match and outside of Kenrich Williams the Thunder does not have a player that would make sense for the veteran filled "win now" Lakers.  As the Lakers could very well use a guy like Kenrich Williams a big reason as to why their in the situation they’re in now is because they like to chase names and not fit. Williams is not this big known sexy name as is Westbrook. But the Lakers could use his 3&D abilities combined with his size yes. But since OKC can easily take on Russ' salary I have a reunion as a possibility. Though Shai has flourished as the lead guard in OKC he also had to play with Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder just a few years back and his game was just as impactful. OKC would be another team to get a high draft pick as well though. They also have Josh Giddey, who is practically a 6'8 point guard who is best with the ball in his hands. That begs the question again would it make total sense for them no but I see it as a possibility. One thing is OKC having Lu Dort, Shai, Russ, and Giddey is someone would have to be the 6th man in this hypothetical. That could be Dort as I say it would not hinder his development too much. But after a heckling season behind the wild fanbase that is Laker nation, Russ to be back home behind one of if not his most loved fanbase would be nice for Westbrook and his people. 

Basically I am saying I see Russ returning to OKC or Houston as those two make the most sense out of a complicated situation. Another team I had in mind was the Knicks, but I see it as illogical to trade Fournier, Burks, and Rose for Westbrook. If he does not stay in LA and goes to an entirely different team other than those two whom are already kind of complicated, I believe it will be a more complex situation. Either way I would like to see Russ back in a situation that is best for him and not with the fan and media expectations of competing for a championship.