{"id":23334,"date":"2020-12-03T18:23:51","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T18:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=23334"},"modified":"2020-12-09T20:52:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T20:52:51","slug":"israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Schwartz<\/em><\/p>\n

Before Israeli sensation Deni Avdija got to step on the court to receive a pass from Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall, the former #1 draft pick was sent packing to the Houston Rockets for the the 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook in a move that on the surface appears questionable for both involved teams.<\/p>\n

Wall and the Wizard\u2019s franchise have been synonymous since the Kentucky product entered the league ten years ago, yet after a two-year stretch in which Wall has been sidelined due to Achilles issues, it seems Washington decision-makers had lost patience in their fallen star\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

So why deal Wall for a similarly aging point guard with an almost identically bloated contract? For the second year General Manager Tommy Sheppard, this is a statement that the Wizards believe they are ready to compete in the eastern conference. Slotting Westbrook into a starting lineup alongside Bradley Beal, an All-NBA scoring threat, as well as the array of quality role players and young talent currently on the Wizards roster, make them an outside threat at advancing through the Eastern Conference playoffs.<\/p>\n

Washington is attempting to build a winning culture that can properly prepare and develop their young talent (Deni Advija, Rui Hachimora, Isaac Bonga) while being competitive enough in the present to satisfy Beal. Avdija will certainly benefit from Westbrook\u2019s tough nosed attitude and high paced practice sessions as the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business will only help the Israeli as he adjusts to the NBA. Westbrook makes the Wizards better now, and it should be effective in developing a competitive culture for years to come.<\/p>\n

For Houston, dealing Westbrook for Wall is about hope. It was clear after a single season that Westbrook and Rocket\u2019s franchise cornerstone James Harden had a ceiling together that was below finals contention, and in today\u2019s era of player empowerment and superstar athletes being in control of their destiny, Houston knew that the clock was ticking before Harden was gone. New Rocket\u2019s General Manager Rafael Stone made a move of desperation, a last-ditch effort to appease Harden with a new toy on the ever-rotating wheel of Houston point guards.<\/p>\n

If Wall returns to his pre-injury form, the Rockets have a dynamic backcourt that along with free-agent signings Christian Wood and Demarcus Cousins could provide the team with a slightly higher ceiling than any previous Harden lead Rockets squad and convince the generational talent to stick around. If Wall is a shell of his former self than this deal is only a slight mishap for Houston, as while they are stuck paying Wall\u2019s exorbitant contraction, they take in a first-round pick in return for a player in Westbrook they no longer had use for, and deal Harden for a package of young assets while remaining fairly competitive.<\/p>\n

Westbrook for Wall is the rare win-win NBA trade, as the Wizards dump their baggage for a chance at postseason relevance and a positive role model for their young core, and the Rockets get a final opportunity to pitch Harden on staying in Houston with a team that, assuming Wall returns to form, can be as competitive as they\u2019ve been in the Harden era while maintaining the ability to go into full rebuild mode if the pair fails to click. The Wizards got better last night, and if everything goes right in Wall\u2019s recovery, Houston did too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Schwartz Before Israeli sensation Deni Avdija got to step on the court to receive a pass from Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall, the former #1 draft pick was sent packing to the Houston Rockets for the the 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook in a move that on the surface appears questionable for both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":23336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,1316,1872],"class_list":["post-23334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-deni-avdija","tag-houston-rockets","tag-washington-wizards","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nIsraeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sam Schwartz Before Israeli sensation Deni Avdija got to step on the court to receive a pass from Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall, the former #1 draft pick was sent packing to the Houston Rockets for the the 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook in a move that on the surface appears questionable for both […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"904\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Halickman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joshua Halickman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joshua Halickman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0\"},\"headline\":\"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Deni Avdija\",\"houston rockets\",\"Washington Wizards\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/\",\"name\":\"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":904},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sports Rabbi\",\"description\":\"The Home of Israeli Sports\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0\",\"name\":\"Joshua Halickman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Joshua Halickman\"},\"description\":\"Joshua Halickman, The Sports Rabbi is the founder of the website and has been covering Israeli sports since 2004. The Sports Rabbi has gone to over 4,000 live sporting events in 25+ countries looking for the most exciting and intriguing stories. Josh has lectured to tens of thousands across the globe about the Zionism through Israeli Sports. You can follow Josh on Twitter @thesportsrabbi\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/thesportsrabbiisrael\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi","og_description":"By Sam Schwartz Before Israeli sensation Deni Avdija got to step on the court to receive a pass from Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall, the former #1 draft pick was sent packing to the Houston Rockets for the the 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook in a move that on the surface appears questionable for both […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/","og_site_name":"Sports Rabbi","article_published_time":"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":904,"url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joshua Halickman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joshua Halickman","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/"},"author":{"name":"Joshua Halickman","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0"},"headline":"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal","datePublished":"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/"},"wordCount":591,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg","keywords":["Deni Avdija","houston rockets","Washington Wizards"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/","url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/","name":"Israeli sensation Avdija has new teammate as Westbrook for Wall is a rare win-win deal - Sports Rabbi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-12-03T18:23:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-09T20:52:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israeli-sensation-avdija-has-new-teammate-as-westbrook-for-wall-is-a-rare-win-win-deal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/D4E6DA3B-691E-4B70-8A47-9130FF3B8167.jpeg","width":2048,"height":904},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/","name":"Sports Rabbi","description":"The Home of Israeli Sports","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0","name":"Joshua Halickman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-08-at-10.13.06-150x150.jpeg","caption":"Joshua Halickman"},"description":"Joshua Halickman, The Sports Rabbi is the founder of the website and has been covering Israeli sports since 2004. The Sports Rabbi has gone to over 4,000 live sporting events in 25+ countries looking for the most exciting and intriguing stories. Josh has lectured to tens of thousands across the globe about the Zionism through Israeli Sports. You can follow Josh on Twitter @thesportsrabbi","url":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/author\/thesportsrabbiisrael\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}