I need
Methodical Management
reaction to this trade.
I'll be honest, the whole thing just makes me sad.
That may sound strange when comparing Westbrook's career accomplishments with Wall's. When I grew up, Oscar Robertson averaging a triple double was considered a feat that would never be witnessed in the modern NBA. Russ did it three times. He's been to the Finals. He's won the scoring title and the league's MVP award.
Just this past offseason, Houston gave up two lightly protected first round picks in 2024 and 2026, along with two first round pick swaps in 2021 and 2025 for him. One year later, we're sending out a player who hasn't logged a minute in nearly two years and a first round pick that, at
worst, would be ninth overall in 2026. Phrased that way, it sounds like a great deal.
And yet, I'm disappointed - not just because, in my heart of hearts, I wanted to see how Wall would bounce back playing alongside what looked to be - pitifully - one of the better supporting casts of the Wall/Beal era. The fondness the city and fanbase have for John Wall has already been described at length and need not be rehashed. For all the mutual frustrations, Wall and this hapless, miserable excuse for a franchise had, to this point, demonstrated a mutual loyalty uncommon in contemporary sports.
I'd vainly hoped that Wall would accept more of a supporting role this season. He's had scant little help to speak of in his pro career, so how could he resent the continued development of the team's other star? He'd be under less pressure to hurl himself into the teeth of the defense on every possession while his teammates stood idle, as had been the team's wont when Gortat wasn't bobbling passes on roll cuts, or whenever Randy Wittman's creaky, antediluvian offense labored to free up the likes of Martell Webster on a slow-developing horns action. For the first time in years, Wall would have some young talent to run with, as opposed to the ghost of Trevor Ariza and geriatric lummoxes like Nene, Jared Dudley, Jason Smith, and Ian Mahinmi. It could've been a fun season.
We don't know, however, just how strained was the relationship between Wall and Beal. We don't know if Wall truly made, and stood by, his reported (and utterly delusional) trade "demand." As such, it's hard to understand why they had to make this move
now, and why they had to give up a first round pick to do it.
As desperate as Houston was to unload Westbrook, who was Sheppard bidding against aside from himself here? In contrast to James Harden, whose public and insistent trade demands prompted a series of lowball offers unlikely to improve as the season progressed, Beal has been a consummate pro - largely confining his well-justified frustrations behind closed doors, leaving open the possibility of a long term future in Washington, and even signing a two year contract extension. The souring of a Wall/Beal partnership would be far less disastrous for the organization than the continued deterioration of the already volatile situation in Houston. The Rockets mortgaged their future to get Westbrook. They can't just pivot into a traditional rebuild. Washington can (and likely will.)
Swapping Wall for Westbrook helps Houston out of their jam more than it helps Washington out of ours. Either way, we had to take our medicine with a bad contract. We needed all the picks we could get - especially since the team's miserly owner has a proclivity for shamelessly selling all of our second rounders.
From a contract standpoint, Wall for Westbrook is a lateral move. Either way, you're in salary cap jail for an entire presidential term with no realistic chance to compete for a title. Giving up a pick, then, is a clear loss for questionable gain.
A Beal/Westbrook tandem will not work. Russ has reportedly said he wants to go back to playing "his way." For all the changes the league is making to the format, there's still only one ball.
Realistically, I, like most Wizards fans, knew that Wall and Beal would never compete for a title together. Wall's supermax contract was pure toxic waste, to be encased in concrete and buried deep underground for the basketball equivalent of a 24,000 year half-life. All we could reasonably do was to amass young picks and talent while awaiting its pending expiration. We'd have some fun this year, the young guys would hopefully beat the franchise odds and show some glimmer of progress, and we'd bank another set of ping pong balls in the franchise's perpetual scheme to attain fortune through lotto scratchers.
If, by some miracle, Hachimura or Advija become emerging stars, they could give it a go and try to make some noise in the postseason. If not, set Beal free, ideally to a delusional bottom feeder or mediocre team you can hustle the way OKC swindled Houston and LA or the Celtics bamboozled Brooklyn.
In either scenario, we'd get one final season or so with Wall and Beal with the youngsters in tow: a last hurrah. There would be a sense of transition for the fans, like watching Gil pass the torch to Wall.
Now, we're left with one fewer draft asset and another doomed chemistry experiment.
Who knows? Maybe Westbrook somehow returns to form this season, we can dump him off on the Knicks or something, and the whole thing starts to look like a clear win from a basketball standpoint.
Even so, and with whatever friction existed between Wall and Beal, losing
this hurts:
On that, at least, every Wizards fan who reached out to me yesterday could agree.
I don’t disagree as far as DC/chocolate city culture goes. So perhaps if you’re just talking about the city proper, I could agree. If you’re talking about the whole area, Ovechkin is clearly the bigger draw (not particularly close tbh) and the much better player in his sport. It’s a reason why Wiz tickets were so attainable even when they were good and Caps were selling out every game for a decade plus. Ovechkin also brought a championship to the city.
Let's be real: you know full well that damn near everyone in this photo came from Maryland or Virginia.
If you showed me a close up of the crowd, I'd have thought I was looking at a Trump rally.
).
