NBA All-Star Draft 2019: LeBron trades Westbrook to Team Giannis for Ben Simmons

Benyam Kidane

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NBA All-Star Draft 2019: LeBron trades Westbrook to Team Giannis for Ben Simmons image

As expected, the televising of the NBA All-Star draft provided plenty of entertainment with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo selecting their teams for the big game.

The starting lineups went pretty much as you would expect with James selecting Kevin Durant first, followed Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, while Antetokounmpo assembled his starting squad featuring Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kemba Walker.

As they ventured into the reserves, Antetokounmpo got one over James by picking Aussie Ben Simmons with the third pick in the round, before the King got a chance.​


“S**t. He took my guy!” James exclaimed on the broadcast.

“You took my guy. Now I have to go into shuffle mode now.”

Antetokounmpo was pretty happy with his slick move: “I’m playing mind games,” he jokingly said.


As the pair laughed over James' conundrum of playing against his protégé, the spirit of the NBA trade deadline took over, with James proposing a trade to send Russell Westbrook to Team Giannis in exchange for Simmons.

Prior to the draft, Antetokounmpo said that he planned on pairing Westbrook and Embiid together on his roster to help simmer their on-court rivalry, but he wasn't done there.

“What if you put Dwayne Wade in the trade?” he added.

With a smile on his face, Antetokounmpo obliged and sealed the deal to send Simmons to Team LeBron, while the 76ers point guard was at home riding the rollercoaster of events.




Check out the full rosters below:


The 68th NBA All-Star Game takes place on Feb. 17, 2019, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.

Benyam Kidane

Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor and has been covering the league for The Sporting News since 2016. In his spare time you can find him watching Allen Iverson highlights on repeat.