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A massive Russell Westbrook trade that could save the Lakers’ offseason

By Jonathan Kiernan

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 01: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on March 01, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 01: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on March 01, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Why the Indiana Pacers would make the deal

Before Buddy Hield came to the Indiana Pacers this season, he was a part of the Sacramento Kings.

The Sacramento Kings were and continue to be in a weird place, they had tried for numerous seasons to move on from Buddy Hield but never seem to pull the trigger on a deal.

The Lakers almost completed a trade for Hield in July 2021

Not long after, that deal disappeared and was replaced with Russell Westbrook to the Lakers

A whirlwind to say the least.

The Kings finally got their wish and moved on from Hield in a deal that sent him and Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers for all-star forward Domantas Sabonis.

Now a member of the Indiana Pacers, it seems that Hield might eventually be on the move again.

With a young promising rookie in Chris Duarte at the shooting guard position and a young up and coming star in Tyrese Haliburton, could the Pacers move off of not just Buddy Hield but also combo guard Malcolm Brogdon for the right price?

According to Eric Pincus, it’s a real possibility

"A wild (but cap-worthy) four-team fake trade idea like Westbrook to the Thunder, with Mason Plumlee and Hayward from Charlotte (plus Muscala) to the Pacers, plus Myles Turner to the Hornets and Brogdon, Hield and Favors to the Lakers is a lot to digest."

The main reason why the Indiana Pacers would do this deal is they allow their youth movement to take flight and they shed $49m in cap space in 2023. While they would take on Westbrook’s contract they get paid handsomely for doing so.

While they take on Russell Westbrook’s bad contract, at least it is a huge expiring contract to give the team cap space for the 2023 offseason to make a run at whoever they are targeting.

If the Thunder wanted to, they could sit Westbrook for the entire season similar to what the Houston Rockets did with John Wall, pay his salary and allow him to be away from the team.

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They could potentially buy him out and not have him be a member of the team at all or they could simply let him play and see if he is beneficial to the team. They have many options in this regard.

To go with the Phoenix pick, they would also get a protected 2027 and 2029 1st round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers as a cherry on top.

The Pacers could walk into the 2022-23 season with a top 5 pick in the NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers pick in the late teens or early ’20s, and Phoenix’s pick with a bunch of young prospects on team-friendly contracts for the next number of years, and the ability after next season to have all the young guys under contract and a colossal amount of cap space to be very aggressive in 2023.

Seems like a very beneficial trade for the Indiana Pacers in the short and long term.

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