The Washington Wizards have been bad with Russell Westbrook
The Washington Wizards are now 2-6 after their late comeback push to top the Philadelphia 76ers fell flat Wednesday night. A 60-point game by Bradley Beal was wasted, and Russell Westbrook walked away two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
This is not the start the Wizards had in mind when they were able to unload John Wall for Russell Westbrook. Even if Westbrook is not the player he once was, the Wizards knew the player they acquired has a less serious injury history.
Most did not expect the Wizards to be contenders with Westbrook, but the playoffs seemed like a reasonable expectation. Now after this pitiful start, many oddsmakers have the Washington Wizards favored to miss postseason play.
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Westbrook is not to blame for all of Washington’s woes, which are many. Russell and Bradley Beal are the only two viable ball handling playmakers on the roster. The team also lacks any serious depth, leaving their bench extremely weak.
While Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura are young and improving in their development it is still not enough to make up for the bottom part of the roster. Especially, when a player like Davis Bertans, who they spent serious money on, has been off to a disappointing start to the season.
The Wizards knew what they were signing up for when they traded John Wall for Russell Westbrook, they wanted off Wall so much they were willing to take back a flawed superstar in Russ. This was also an attempt to keep Bradley Beal happy, even though he is under a multi-year deal.
The thing is, what does Russell Westbrook offer? Triple-doubles? He looks great on paper but has yet to bring any success to his teams. None of the teams where he has chased down these boards and racked up the assists have been competitive.
Russell Westbrook and Paul George had dismal at best playoff returns. The duo even lost to Utah led by rookie Donovan Mitchell. When Westbrook reunited with James Harden, they were able to make it past their old team OKC in the playoffs but were promptly ousted in five games by the Lakers, with the classic Westbrook moment of Houston down 20 and him telling the Lakers to double team him.
The team-up of Westbrook and Beal just seems like a soft reboot of a movie we have already seen. Russell Westbrook is now the Adam Sandler equivalent of basketball. He is still a big name but the overall product is no longer fun to watch. While both still have tons of fans trying to convince us what they are doing is great, many are no longer interested in their new endeavors.
With less than 10 games played right now, we still have a small sample size. Can the Wizards make the playoffs? In the immortal words of Kevin Garnett:
"“Anything is possible.”"
You can not say bringing in Westbrook is going to turn things around for this team. Even in their win over the Brooklyn Nets, Russell was his vintage self, going 7-25 from the field. Flipping this team around was why they brought Rusell Westbrook in, but this Wizards campaign is looking more like a flop.