The Los Angeles Lakers rumors are moving a million miles per hour on draft day. We just recently posted an article comparing Buddy Hield and DeMar DeRozan only for that article to instantly be outdated by new rumors surrounding Russell Westbrook.
It appeared as if the Lakers were in the red zone in getting a deal for Hield done before Shams Charania dropped a bombshell. According to Shams, the Lakers are engaged in trade talks with the Washington Wizards for Westbrook.
The return package for Washington is quite significant.
The Lakers and Wizards are discussing a trade that would send Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for Westbrook, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The Lakers' No. 22 pick in the Draft could be in play, too. https://t.co/RQOnlyVnBS
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 29, 2021
Adrian Wojnarowski followed up Shams’ report by confirming that the Lakers are close to deal to trade Kuzma, Harrell, KCP and the 22nd overall pick for Westbrook.
Lakers rumors: Breaking down this potential trade for Russell Westbrook
This trade package is quite surprising. While we wrote weeks ago that a Westbrook trade is not as absurd as it sounds, this is not the direction that I expected the Lakers to go in. They were helped by Montrezl Harrell opting into his $9.8 million salary next season but there was still a different route.
It appeared that if the Lakers were going to get a deal done for Westbrook that it would have included signing and trading Dennis Schroder to Washington. Schroder could have agreed to a deal that paid him what he wanted (around $25 million per season) and the Lakers could have packaged that for Westbrook.
It would have not only allowed the Lakers to get closer in monetary value with Westbrook’s massive $44 million salary but it also would have allowed the team to use the cap space they have via Schroder’s Bird Rights that they otherwise could not spend.
To not see Schroder in this package is surprising. Perhaps he does not want to be part of a sign-and-trade because if this deal goes through the Lakers are not going to have the room to sign-and-trade Schroder without paying a massive tax bill.
The package outlined above, with the 22nd pick in the draft (who would be “picked” by the Lakers and then traded), is worth just under $40 million. It allows Washington to get assets in return but also breaks up Westbrook’s salary into smaller pieces that will be easier to move for more assets.
It is a massive win for the Wizards, who were not going to win anything with Westbrook regardless and essentially get out of John Wall’s contract and get assets for it. That seemed impossible 12 months ago.
The Lakers would be paying over $120 million for the trio of LeBron, AD and Westbrook alone. The team can utilize Bird Rights to re-sign Alex Caruso and THT (as long as he does not take a massive offer sheet) and are going to have to build a roster of minimum contracts.
It is impossible to not go over the salary cap with this trade and it is practically inevitable that they are going to go over the tax apron as well. Be ready for a lot of minimum contracts to be doled out in the coming weeks as that is all the Lakers can afford.