Lakers: Pass or pursue on proposed 3-team blockbuster with Knicks, Nets

The Los Angeles Lakers have officially entered trade season with NBA pundits (ourselves included) proposing various trades that would improve the Lakers for the 2022 season. The best way to improve next season is to get rid of Russell Westbrook, which is easier said than done.

A few days ago we broke down a proposed four-team blockbuster that would end up sending Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz under the assumption that the Jazz are blowing up the roster this season.

A similar trade package has been proposed by Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report with the Lakers, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets all getting together to trade their disappointing star players. The trade is as followed:

The logic behind this trade is that each team gets off of the players that they do not want on the roster. Los Angeles gets to pivot off of Russell Westbrook for another controversial star, the Nets get to replace said controversial star with someone who really underperformed last season but has all-star potential and the Knicks get to free up future money and commit to focusing on the young core.

There are a lot of moving pieces in this trade, so we decided it was worth playing a game we have played here at Lake Show Life before: pass or pursue.

Should the Los Angeles Lakers pass or pursue this blockbuster trade?

I am going to get this out of the way early: the Los Angeles Lakers should absolutely pursue this trade. If we are talking about the best-case scenarios for the Lakers in a Westbrook trade this summer then getting Ben Simmons is high on the list.

I get it, he is a polarizing player who did not play all of last season and has some of the same issues with floor-spacing and shooting that Westbrook has. That being said, what Simmons has that Westbrook doesn’t is elite defense and the tandem of him and Anthony Davis as full strength would be very hard to score on.

He is also a Klutch guy so there is the hope there that he would finally be willing to buy into changing his game a bit with LeBron and AD. It is wishful thinking, sure, but I give Simmons a better chance of changing his game at this point than Westbrook. Ben Simmons is still only going to be 26 next season. Westbrook is going to turn 34.

This trade also makes sense for the Brooklyn Nets. While Simmons is the bigger name, the Nets are probably interesting in getting someone who does not add to the soap opera in Brooklyn and can be third banana behind Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Julius Randle would fit that mold perfectly.

The Lakers are going to be one of the few teams that would actually be interested in adding Simmons but the Nets would not want Westbrook back in return. That is why the Knicks being thrown in makes sense for both the Lakers and Nets.

The Knicks would really have to be committed to shedding money and committing to the young core. It is not a small thing to do to trade for a $47.1 million salary with the intention of buying him out. If the Knicks are willing to do this, they need to be the team getting that Lakers’ first-round pick, not the Nets.