Adam Hagy/NBAE.
If the deal was "incentivized," the Houston Rockets would be interested in trading point guard John Wall for Los Angeles Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook.
Stein reported that the Rockets would look for "sufficient draft compensation" to take back the player who played for Houston during the season.
The Wizards got Wall and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick from the Rockets.
Washington dealt with the Lakers. He has struggled in his first year in L.A., posting a career-low 15.2 player efficiency rating.
Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported in September that Wall would not play for Houston this season as the team worked on finding him a new home.
There is a chance of a Houston-Lakers deal happening before the trade deadline.
The Lakers are at a fork in the road. The team has gone 22-23 through 45 games and is 1-8 in the last five.
The rest of the team has largely been inconsistent, despite the fact that the Lakers forward is playing at anMVP level. Anthony Davis has been out for a month with a left knee injury.
The Lakers were in a tough spot to make any moves before the trade deadline and improvement would likely have to come from within. Davis' return should be the Lakers' biggest addition.
The young group has shown promise and fight through 46 games, but the team is last in the Western Conference with a 14-32 record. Building blocks such as Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun bring hope for the future.
Wall has a player option for $47 million in the 2022-23 season. He will be a free agent in the summer of 2023 if he takes it. The player option for 2022-23 is $47,064,478.
Both could use a change of scenery for different reasons, but their contracts make it difficult for any moves to happen.
The 2016 NBA Most Valuable Player is a nine-time All-Star and nine-time All-NBA team member. Wall was named to the All-NBA team for the first time in his career.
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