“Hey Bradley Beal, you cool if I go join LA Lakers?”: Russell Westbrook reportedly tried persuading Wizards star to go to the Lakers with him
Bradley Beal has been one of the big names in the trade market for few seasons now but the Washington Wizards guard has never been in talks with any NBA team.
Beal has never been past 2nd round in the playoffs since he has been drafted. The dynamic duo of him and John Wall was looking promising for Wizards to push through someday until Wall’s knees maxed out.
Wizards were on the look for a superstar since then. Beal struggled to take them through to the play-offs since 2018, despite averaging over 26 points per game and getting 2 All-Star selections.
Wizards started in a similar fashion in 2020 until Westbrook joined them. Beal along with Westbrook helped Washington clinch a play-off spot after winning the play-in tournament. But they again lost in the 1st round.
Russell Westbrook reportedly tried convincing Bradley Beal to request a trade out of Washington
Beal has been vocal about his All-star and All-NBA snubs, but his silence on his trade has run simultaneously with consistent trade rumors in the media for a long time now. Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook came, averaged a triple-double, and left for the Lakers.
But he didn’t leave in silence. He tried convincing Beal to leave as well.
Bill Oram, Shams Charania, and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported “Westbrook pushed Beal to also request a trade from the Wizards, an opportunity which Beal declined. The All-Star guard did ultimately give Westbrook his blessing to pursue a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, which was completed ahead of the 2021 NBA draft.”
Superstar shopping: LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and the Lakers’ past, present and future — a deep-dive on @TheAthletic with @billoram and @sam_amick: https://t.co/04FjxCD7yc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 27, 2021
Another report suggests that Westbrook powered his move to his hometown team the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers had a dominant frontcourt of LeBron James and Anthony Davis and were hunting around the league to pair the duo up with a solid point guard.
The Westbrook trade has replenished Wizards with few decent players in Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a few draft picks. Will this be enough for Beal to even contend for a play-in spot? We will have to wait and see.
But Wizards cannot sit and watch Beal become a free agent after this season.
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