It is no secret that the biggest priority for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason is finding a way to move Russell Westbrook off the team. The Westbrook experiment was an absolute failure for the Lakers as his massive salary restricted the team from adding depth and he did not change his game at all to fit in with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
While there are some Westbrook truthers out there that just look at the box score and don’t watch the games, it is still really hard to deny the fact that the Lakers are not winning anything if Westbrook is still in the purple and gold.
Think about it, no star in the NBA has gotten as much help as Westbrook and has done so little with it. Westbrook has played with three former MVPs and two All-NBA talents (Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal) and has won exactly one playoff series since Kevin Durant left OKC.
There is such a thing as a common denominator, and Westbrook very well could be it.
Finding a Russell Westbrook trade is going to be hard for the Los Angeles Lakers to do.
With the Lakers’ season officially over, we have seen just about every basketball outlet put on its thinking caps and work out possible trade packages for Russell Westbrook. With a $47.1 million cap hit and not much value as a player, it is going to be really hard for the Lakers to move him.
Some of the proposed deals make sense while others are likely outside the realm of possibility. Today, we are going to be breaking down the “six realistic trade packages” that Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report put together, deciding whether or not the packages are truly realistic (fact) or perhaps out of the realm of possibility (fiction).
1. A salary dump with the Oklahoma City Thunder
The first trade that is proposed is a salary dump that sends Russell Westbrook back to the team that drafted him, the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is perhaps the only team that Westbrook could be traded to that would actually welcome him with open arms next season.
Oklahoma City has done these kinds of deals in the past and has picked up assets with this approach. The Thunder took on Chris Paul when people thought he had a horrible contract and flipped him for assets. They did the same with Al Horford, who was practically unmovable before coming to OKC.
This trade is a bit different, though. The Thunder were able to elevate the play of both of those players in OKC and then flip them for more assets. Westbrook’s contract is still going to be near-impossible to move and it is an expiring, so there are no future assets out of it.
With that in mind, the Lakers are going to have to trade serious draft capital to move Westbrook. The purple and gold would be taking on Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala, creating a huge trade exception and giving the Thunder (a small-market team) a lot more money on the books next season.
If the Thunder had a big contract to send back it would be one thing. They don’t. For that reason, the Lakers would likely have to trade two first-round picks to get Westbrook in OKC, which might not be something the team is willing to do. We can have wishful thinking all we want and hope it is just one first-round pick, but the price would be two.
Verdict: Fiction
2. Swapping Russell Westbrook for two multi-year contracts
This is a trade package that has circled the internet in recent days and it makes absolutely no sense. Shams Charania of The Athletic first brought up the possibility of the Indiana Pacers potentially trading for Westbrook, naming Malcolm Brogdon and Buddy Hield as two contracts they would want to get off of.
If a Westbrook trade for Brogdon and Hield sounds too good to be true that is because it is. This trade makes absolutely no sense for the Pacers, even if they are in a position where they are looking to pick up as many assets as possible.
The first-round pick five years in the future is not enough for the Pacers to warrant trading Brogdon and Hield for Westbrook. It especially doesn’t make sense when their contracts are not even that bad.
Brogdon just signed an extension before the season and is making under $23 million per year. For a player of his caliber that is an absolute steal. Hield’s cap hit next season is $21.1 million and is goes down the following year, which is the last of his deal.
Brogdon is the team’s best player and Hield is someone who they could get something for from a desperate contending team that needs a shooter. This package makes absolutely no sense for Indiana and if they did want to trade either of these two (or both) they could get significantly more than Westbrook, who they would probably buy out anyway!
Verdict: Fiction
3. Sending Russell Westbrook to Charlotte for Gordon Hayward
Marc Stein mentioned the Charlotte Hornets as a team to watch that could potentially trade for Russell Westbrook this summer and there is some potential for a deal to transpire. While some Laker outlets have gotten a bit optimistic in what the team can get in return, there is legs for this trade.
The trade centers around the fact that Gordon Hayward has not been what the Hornets were hoping for and has struggled to stay on the court at times. In theory, the Hornets could trade multiple years of paying Hayward and just get it over with by paying Westbrook for one year. Regardless of if it is Hayward or Westbrook, the Hornets are not doing much next season.
Some fans have gotten optimistic in thinking that the Hornets would package Terry Rozier in the deal to entice the Lakers. That is too much for Charlotte to pay. Let’s stop pretending like Westbrook is an asset that the Hornets want more so than the team potentially just wanting to get off of Hayward.
The package would probably be something along the lines of Westbrook and a lottery-protected future first for Hayword, Mason Plumlee and a 2022 second. Both teams would accomplish what they are looking to accomplish in this deal.
In theory, if he could just stay healthy, Hayward would be the perfect third star to put next to LeBron and AD as someone who can shoot threes as well as cut to the rim both on and off-ball. Westbrook would sell some tickets and then the Hornets would have cap space in 2023.
Verdict: Fact (without Terry Rozier)
4. Trading Russell Westbrook to Houston for a package, not John Wall
The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets were discussing a potential Russell Westbrook for John Wall swap at the deadline. However, the Lakers rightfully turned down the offer as they did not want to attach a first-round pick in the deal, even if it was a pick swap.
There is a reality in which nothing else is possible this summer and the Lakers get desperate and do the same trade with a 2027 pick swap. That is not the package that is presented in Pincus’s article though. Instead, he theorizes that the Lakers could trade Westbrook for Christian Wood, Eric Gordon and David Nwaba.
Spoiler alert: this is not happening and will not happen in a million years. The Rockets already have one overpaid point guard that they are paying to not play. Why in the world would Houston trade pieces for another player that they probably would not play?
MUST-READ: Ranking LeBron James and the 10 best players in the NBA
It is clear that Houston would rather play the young guys and let them get experience and that is the right way to go. Trading multiple pieces for essentially another version of Wall goes against everything the Rockets have told us this season.
The extra first-round pick that the Lakers attach to Westbrook is not going to be enough to entice the Rockets, who can get more overall if they trade the trio in separate deals to other contenders.
Plus, it is not like the Rockets are even trying to free up money by trading for an expiring contract! Wood is already on an expiring contract and Gordon’s contract for the 2023-24 season is non-guaranteed, so he is essentially on an expiring contract as well!
The Houston Rockets would never make this trade.
Verdict: Fiction
5. The Lakers finally get Jerami Grant
The Los Angeles Lakers tried trading for Jerami Grant at the deadline and came to the harsh reality that Talen Horton-Tucker is not worth anything as a trade chip. Can’t really blame any team for not wanting THT, he is making over $10 million a season and was one of the worst offensive players in the entire league last season.
Pincus now suggests another way for the Lakers to potentially get Jerami Grant this summer. Pincus does not suggest an actual package, but based on the money, the Lakers would get Grant, Kelly Olynyk and Hamidou Diallo for Westbrook.
The Lakers would have to send multiple first-round picks to get this deal done. One first-round pick would not be enough and that could keep the Lakers from ultimately wanting to do this trade. However, even if LA was willing to trade two first-round picks, this trade is unrealistic.
While the Detroit Pistons may not want to extend Grant they can still get far more for him on the trade market than a salary dump for Russell Westbrook. This is the guy that Detroit refused to trade with offers a few months ago and suddenly they would trade him in a package for Westbrook?
Plus, why would the Pistons want to bring Westbrook in when they just spent the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft on a point guard in Cade Cunningham? Westbrook would only hinder his development.
Verdict: Fiction
6. Swapping contracts with the New York Knicks
There are two potential ways the Los Angeles Lakers could trade Russell Westbrook to the Knicks. One is possible despite the reports that the Knicks are not currently interested in Randle (things can change) while the other is perhaps wishful thinking.
Pincus suggests the wishful thinking route of trading Westbrook for Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, Alex Burcs, Kemba Walker and Cam Reddish. While the Knicks may want to open up cap space in the future with some of those contracts, I don’t think any team in the league is trading five players for Russell Westbrook.
That package is fiction. The one way to potentially trade Westbrook to New York is if the Lakers take on Julius Randle, who is coming off of a really disappointing season after signing an extension with the Knicks.
Pincus says that this might not make sense for the Lakers while also having Anthony Davis and LeBron James but the Lakers do not have the luxury of being picky. Beggars cannot be choosers and if the team has a package with the Knicks, it would have to include Randle.
The Knicks would have to be really sour on Randle, who does not seem like he wants to be in New York. If Randle forces his way out he is not going to have much value because of his contract and his disappointing year. No team is going to trade actual assets for Randle, so a Westbrook swap might be best.
The Knicks would get to clean their hands with Randle and could get someone who can at least elevate the floor next season in Westbrook. The Lakers would have to hope that Randle turns it around but as the third-best player on the team, he should be just fine.
Another contract would have to be thrown in and that could be Evan Fournier, who the Knicks overpaid for last summer. Even though New York benefits from getting off his contract, adding Fournier to the deal means the Lakers would likely have to add a first. Quite frankly, Westbrook and a first for Randle and Fournier might be the ceiling of what the team can get for Russ.
Verdict: Fact (for Julius Randle)