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Lakers should “start thinking about” Russell Westbrook trade to Knicks

By Jason Reed

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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The biggest goal for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason is going to get Russell Westbrook off of the roster. In a perfect world, the team could upset Westbrook enough from a basketball perspective that he opts out of his player option for the 2022-23 season to find a better fit elsewhere.

However, Westbrook has 47.1 million reasons to put any differences aside and opt into his player option. At that point, the Lakers will be hard at work trying to trade him away for anything they can get.

Rob Pelinka needs to find a team that is in a similar mindset as the Lakers were last offseason. He needs to find a desperate team who will cling to the idea of Westbrook raising the floor of the team. Ideally, they need to find a team who will do that and has contracts it wants to get off the books.

The New York Knicks are a team that may fit that billing perfectly and Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposes a ‘surprising’ trade that we should start thinking about now:

This Russell Westbrook trade to the Knicks is not surprising at all for the Lakers.

While this may seem far-fetched right now, this is absolutely a deal that could work for both parties. Of course, it depends on the mindset of the Knicks heading into this offseason but they should have every reason to want to trade for Westbrook.

Why? Well, it is obvious that this core of players was not the winning formula. They overachieved last season and committed too much money to role players who do not raise the needle. The trio of Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose and Trey Burks is making $42.5 million against the cap next season.

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Yes, Westbrook is making more next season but he is also on an expiring deal. None of the three role players in New York are on expiring deals. This would free up the salary-cap space one year sooner for the Knicks, which is a big deal.

The Knicks are trying to go superstar hunting and this allows them to free up the money to do so. They also get a draft pick for their troubles and as bad as Russ as been in LA, he is someone who can raise the floor of a bad team like the Knicks and at least sell tickets.

Meanwhile, the Lakers get Russ off the books and attempt to build a deeper team around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It is still going to be hard to add more depth on top of this trio, but the Lakers would be in a better position with these three guards as role players than Russ as a third star.

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Plus, it will be easier for the team to move these individual pieces around at the deadline if needed than it would be to move Westbrook.

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