5. Houston Rockets
Yeah that’s right, we’re starting off with pure chaos to set the tone.
But before each fanbase angrily dismisses a trade that’s actually been discussed by the two teams, let’s actually think about the potential benefits here. For the Houston Rockets, they’re getting rid of a disgruntled player who doesn’t fit with James Harden anymore. Russ can’t accept the reality that he needs to be Robin to Harden’s … well, Batman in the regular season, Nightwing in the playoffs. Between that, his penchant for poor shots and turnovers in clutch situations and his lack of a jumper, he’s just a bad fit.
Wall is not a perfect fit by any means either; as a career 32.4 percent 3-point shooter, he’s hardly an ideal match with the way Harden-led teams play. It’s not like he’s suddenly going to discover a 3-point shot after being injured and away from NBA action for two years.
However, Wall at his best is a better distributor than Westbrook, and as he showed at times in Washington, he was capable of riding shotgun when Beal started revving the engines with a high-scoring night. He’s far more likely to accept a complementary role to a perennial MVP like Harden than Russ was as a former MVP himself. That alone could be an addition by subtraction kind of move where even an adequate Wall is an upgrade simply by not trying to do too much and focusing on distributing. Should be easy for a guy with a career average of 9.2 assists per game!
From the Wizards’ perspective, they’re getting the better and healthier player, plain and simple. He’s not an ideal fit next to Beal as a non-shooter who will see himself as the alpha, and that’s probably enough to torpedo trade talks here. But he would take defensive focus off Beal, whose well-rounded game is more conducive to a drive-and-dish point guard like Russ than Harden’s iso-heavy style was.
There’s also the savings: While both Wall and Russ are on the books for at least two more years with a hefty player option for that third season, Wall’s contract comes in at $132.9 million. Westbrook’s is only $132.6 million. LOOK AT ALL THAT MONEY YOU’D SAVE, TOMMY SHEPPARD!
In all seriousness, straight up player-for-player trades are a dying breed, and considering the two riskiest, most volatile contracts in the NBA are involved here, there’s probably a five percent change this ever happens. But it does make some sense for both sides once you get past the initial eye roll … as well as the fact that both sides would feel entitled to ask for draft compensation, and both would be perfectly entitled to tell the other to f**k off once they do.