Wizards trade Russell Westbrook to Lakers in blockbuster

The Washington Wizards have agreed to send superstar Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for three players and the No. 22 pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, The Athletic and ESPN reported.

In addition to the first-round pick, the Wizards are getting Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell, per the reports.

The Wizards are sending their 2024 second-round pick and 2028 second-round pick to the Lakers.

Westbrook, 32, returns home to California. The Long Beach native played his college ball at UCLA.

Westbrook averaged a triple-double in 2020-2021 with 22.2 points, 11.7 assists, and 11.5 rebounds in his first season with the Wizards. It’s the fourth time in his career he has averaged a triple-double for a season.

The nine-time All Star and 2017 Most Valuable Player joins LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the newest super team. Westbrook is also a nine-time All-NBA selection.

The Wizards get three players in return who combined to average 36.1 points per game in 2020-2021.

Harrell averaged 13.5 in his first season with the Lakers, Kuzma 12.9 in his fourth season, and Caldwell-Pope 9.7 in his fourth season in LA. All three players are in their 20s.

Westbrook joins his third team in three years after spending the first 11 seasons of his NBA career in Oklahoma City. He has career averages of 23.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 7.4 rebounds.

The Lakers won the championship in the NBA bubble two seasons ago but fell to the Phoenix Suns in the first round last season. – Rappler.com