GOODBYE, RUSS

Rockets trade Westbrook to Wizards for John Wall

In a major deal, Houston sent Westbrook to Washington on Wednesday for point guard John Wall and a 2023 lottery-protected first-round pick.

The deal ends the Westbrook Experiment after just one season as the Rockets essentially concede failure on a trade they simply couldn't afford to miss on, the ill-fated swap that sent out Chris Paul and still has the Rockets owing two future firsts and two future first swaps.

As for Wall, that's the big question mark. I don't feel the Rockets got a strong enough pick in this deal. After all, the Rockets got zero salary relief and Wall hasn't played basketball in two years as he's trying to return from a major injury, a ruptured left Achilles.

If healthy, and reports of his workouts and scrimmages have been very positive, he has the potential to be a slightly better fit than Russ. He's not great at shooting threes nor taking care of the ball, but he's better than Russ in both categories. Like Russ, blazing speed and athleticism have always been his game.

Interestingly, the trade does reunite close friends and former 2009-10 Kentucky teammates Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. They have wanted to play together again for years and Houston made it happen by adding both in the span of like a week.