{"id":861595,"date":"2026-08-17T18:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861595\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T18:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:12:16","slug":"new-russell-westbrook-rumors-uncover-wizards-contract-offer-before-stars-nba-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861595\/","title":{"rendered":"New Russell Westbrook Rumors Uncover Wizards&#8217; Contract Offer Before Star&#8217;s NBA Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The Washington Wizards were reportedly hot on the trail of veteran guard Russell Westbrook before he <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/49592048\/russell-westbrook-announces-nba-retirement-18-seasons\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">announced his retirement<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">According to NBA insider <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/marcstein.substack.com\/p\/more-late-night-nba-intel\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Marc Stein<\/a>, &#8220;Washington made a two-year offer to bring Westbrook back to the nation&#8217;s capital. Sources say Westbrook\u2014not the team\u2014is the party that ended those talks. The 37-year-old apparently balked at the specific terms of the offer and\/or the role presented and has decided to stop playing instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The Wizards are an interesting team, having added Trae Young and Anthony Davis last season before winning the NBA draft lottery and landing top overall pick AJ Dybantsa this summer. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">That trio\u2014paired with Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Deandre Ayton, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Khris Middleton\u2014has given the Wizards a fascinating blend of young and old. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Whether that bunch is good enough to break into the playoff picture in a loaded Eastern Conference remains to be seen, however. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The defending champion New York Knicks, new-look Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers seem like locks to reach the playoffs. The Toronto Raptors enter that conversation if the Kawhi Leonard trade happens. The Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers\u2014with Tyrese Haliburton returning\u2014and Giannis Antetokounmpo&#8217;s Miami Heat are safe bets to at least be in the Play-In Tournament conversation. And the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic were playoff teams last season and the Charlotte Hornets reached the Play-In Tournament last season. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Earning a playoff berth is going to be a daunting task, in other words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The 37-year-old Westbrook would have certainly given the Wizards an experienced backup at point guard in those efforts. He was solid for the Sacramento Kings last season, albeit largely in a starting role, averaging 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds per contest. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The nine-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA selection, one-time MVP, two-time scoring champion, member of the NBA&#8217;s 75th Anniversary Team future first-ballot Hall of Famer spent one season in Washington (2020-21). But he won&#8217;t be returning for a second go-around. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Wizards were reportedly hot on the trail of veteran guard Russell Westbrook before he announced his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-861595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}