Russell Westbrook for John Wall odds impact: Trade changes little on Rockets, Wizards NBA futures or via SportsLine Projection Model season forecasts

Two of the best and fastest but also hugely overpaid point guards in the NBA were traded for one another in a bit of a stunner Wednesday night when the Houston Rockets sent former league MVP and triple-double king Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for five-time All-Star John Wall and a 2023 lottery-protected first-round pick. While this is a true blockbuster deal, it really didn't affect much in terms of Rockets or Wizards NBA futures odds at William Hill Sportsbook or their season forecasts via the SportsLine Projection Model.

Westbrook will reunite with former Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks in Washington (the two remained close), and it will be Westbrook's third different team in the past three seasons along with the Thunder and Rockets. Only three former MVPs have started at least three straight seasons on different teams: Derrick Rose, Shaquille O'Neal and Moses Malone.

The 32-year-old Westbrook averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists last season for Houston, which are quite impressive numbers. However, he shot just 25.8 percent from deep and really struggled in the Orlando bubble. Westbrook has three years left on his contract that will be him $41.4 million next season, followed by $44.2 million and then a player option for $47.1 million.

The 30-year-old Wall didn't play at all last season. He played only 32 games in 2018-19 before needing knee surgery and then would rupture his left Achilles tendon in a fall at his home. Kevin Durant, though, recently said that Wall "looked amazing" when the two worked out. Wall is owed $41.3 million this season, $44.3 million the next and then has a player option of $47.5 million, so these contracts match almost perfectly.

Wall coming off two major surgeries (history is not kind to those returning from Achilles tendon tears) clearly was the cost of the first-round pick Washington sent out; the Wizards had said Wall would not play both ends of a back-to-back this season. His first game with Houston and James Harden could be Dec. 11 in the preseason opener at Chicago. Westbrook's debut with Washington and Bradley Beal could be Dec. 13 in Brooklyn. Regular-season schedules are not out yet.

The Rockets claim they plan to keep Harden, incidentally. Before this trade, Houston was +4000 to win the NBA title at William Hill and +2000 to win the West. Now the Rockets are +3000 and +1600. Washington was such a long shot before that not much changed as the Wizards are +15000 to win it all and +6000 in the East.

William Hill is still recalibrating win totals for the Wizards and Rockets in the 72-game regular season, but the SportsLine Projection Model has dropped Houston from 35.3 to 33.7 wins with only a 21.7 percent chance of making the playoffs, while Washington has increased from 30.0 to 30.9 wins and its playoff chances in the much weaker conference improving to 16.2 percent. 

Who wins every NFL game this week? And which teams cover more than 50 percent of the time? Get picks here from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch three of the past four years on straight-up NFL picks.