Los Angeles Lakers need to be less stubborn to trade Russell Westbrook

The Los Angeles Lakers are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Russell Westbrook. On one hand, you have a disastrous fit in Westbrook that seriously restricts the team’s ability to properly build. On the other hand, you would have to give up serious assets to move off of him and that is assuming that there is a suitor.

A trade that has been speculated for quite some time is yet another John Wall for Russell Westbrook swap. While that was mostly conjecture earlier in the season, that is something that is reportedly on the table, as least from the Rockets’ side of things.

The Rockets would want to be compensated for their troubles and reportedly would want the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick in the trade as well. And as NBA insider Marc Stein reported, the Lakers do not want to pay a premium just to get rid of Russell Westbrook.

In this particular trade, yes, it makes sense. Throwing in a first-round pick just to give yourself the exact same contract and a player who fits just as poorly would be bad business. However, that thought process as a whole is quite flawed.

The Los Angeles Lakers need to be less stubborn in order to trade Russell Westbrook

Look, the odds of Westbrook being traded this season are still very low but with the team reportedly having no plan B if they cannot trade him, Pelinka and co. are certainly going to try.

There is a trade package that I have broken down multiple times here on Lake Show Life with the Orlando Magic. Long story short, the Lakers would trade Westbrook to the Magic for some expiring contracts. The Magic would get someone to sell tickets and help the team reach the salary floor next season without overpaying a role player on a four-year deal.

In return, the Lakers would get some pieces that could help this season but more importantly, would expire after the season and allow the team to make changes in the offseason. In order to make this happen, though, the Lakers would have to compensate the Magic with picks.

That might mean sending two picks Orlando’s way to get this deal to happen. Based on Stein’s report, the Lakers might not have any interest in doing this but they should. The ultimate goal is to win the NBA Championship and the Lakers definitely are not winning it this year with Westbrook and news flash: nothing will change next year!

The only way for the Lakers to win a championship in the next two years is to trade Westbrook. This season they would have to hope that LeBron and AD have a historic playoffs and they get some injury luck in the postseason like the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks last year.

It is still unlikely, but it is more likely than with Westbrook and it is way more likely the following season with the ability to make other moves (assuming they do not screw it up again).

Ego is going to keep the team from doing this since they sent actual assets for Westbrook (which no other team was willing to do) but at the end of the day, the Los Angeles Lakers need to swallow that ego if they want any chance of winning championship no. 18.