Russell Westbrook is having a season to forget.
After the Houston Rockets traded him to the Washington Wizards, there was a lot of chatter about how a change of scenery and the opportunity to play alongside Bradley Beal might rejuvenate his career.
Thus far, that has not been the case.
Westbrook is averaging just 19.9 points per game (his worst since 2009) on 41.9 percent shooting from the field (also his worst since 2009). On a roster with few scoring threats outside Beal, the former NBA MVP has simply been unable to find any sort of rhythm.
The bad times continued on Sunday, when the Wizards took on the Boston Celtics.
In a sequence that perfectly summed up Westbrook’s season, he stepped up to the free throw line and airballed a free throw.
After the fact, he just stood there – shocked by what he was seeing.
That epitomizes the sort of season Westbrook is having. Over his first 12 years in the NBA, he shot just a tick under 80 percent from the free throw line. This season? A career-worst 65.5 percent.
Westbrook’s woes are symptomatic of the Wizards’ larger problem – this team just doesn’t work. As presently constructed, this group cannot seriously contend. That’s probably why the front office has quietly revealed what it wants in a trade for Beal, and why the current league leader in points per game revealed a list of five potential trade candidates.
This week, Westbrook and Beal were linked to a mega trade involving a fellow Eastern Conference bottom dweller that could radically change the circumstances of all parties involved. If it goes down – maybe Westbrook experiences the sort of career revival folks were hoping for at the beginning of the season. But barring something like that going down, things will likely get worse before they get better for the 32-year-old.
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