The Washington Wizards have traded Russell Westbrook and second-round picks in 2024 and 2028 to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and the No.

It was reported Thursday that Westbrook wanted a trade and Los Angeles was his preferred destination. .

Westbrook is set to make over $44 million next season, so every penny counts in getting up to his figure.

The Wizards still reportedly plan to keep Bradley Beal, according to Wojnarowski.

The Lakers ranked 24th in 3-point attempts and 21st in 3-point percentage last season.

He may not be a shooter, but he's a dynamic scorer that will make the Lakers even deadlier in transition and on the glass.

If the Lakers were getting the MVP version of Westbrook from four seasons ago, this trade might make more sense.

Even during the 2019-20 season as a member of the Rockets, he attempted 10.5 shots per game in the restricted area.

He fell to only five per game last season.

He fell from 4.8 fast break points per game as a Rocket to 2.7 last season in Washington.

The version of Westbrook that the Lakers are getting is the one that took over six mid-range shots per game last season and barely made 38 percent of them.

Everything the Lakers do offensively should be built around enhancing James and Davis.

The Lakers ranked first in the NBA in points per 100 possessions added in transition during their championship season in 2020.

Westbrook's 11.5 rebounds per game last season outpaces even Davis during his two Lakers seasons. .

The Lakers know that they cannot ask him to run the entire offense for 82 games and 20-25 playoff games next season.

The Lakers hope that Westbrook can fix that and allow James more rest within games and likely, more nights off as a whole.

Both Houston and Washington struggled mightily when Westbrook played without Harden and Beal, respectively.

The less likely outcome is that Bradley Beal stays in Washington for the long haul.

All reports now point to Beal staying in Washington for the time being

With Westbrook's gargantuan salary gone, even with Kuzma in the fold, the Wizards could create up to $30 million in extra space next offseason to try to supplement Beal

Westbrook may limit an offense's ceiling in the playoffs, but in the regular season, he raises the floor high enough to keep a team out of the top of the lottery

If Washington wants to seek out more of a win-now package for Beal, Westbrook's absence also makes it easier for them to ignore fit concerns

The Wizards couldn't have rebuilt around him with Westbrook in place because neither of them can shoot 3s

As accomplished as Westbrook is, nothing about what happened in Washington last season suggested that the Wizards had a sustainable contender