Lakers can dump Russell Westbrook to Utah Jazz with this trade package

Why the Utah Jazz should say yes to this Russell Westbrook trade:

Danny Ainge is obviously in the business of blowing it up, starting over and hoarding assets to create a new foundation in Utah. While we all want to believe that the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick won’t be a great one, with the way the organization has operated, the Jazz would have to like their chances.

Plus, Utah is not getting this much in value if they were going to trade these pieces individually. Alexander-Walker has no trade value, Clarkson is likely not warranting a first-round pick in a trade and Mike Conley is a negative asset for Utah. No team is lining up calling for Conley at this point in his career.

With this trade, the Jazz get complete salary-cap freedom after the 2022-23 season as they are trading two-year contracts in Clarkson and Conley for an expiring in Westbrook. The team is obviously in the business of tanking for Victor Wembanyama this season and this helps accomplish that.

Utah is taking on $11.2 million more in salary but the team could buy out Westbrook and save another $5-6 million in doing so. They also get an asset in Kendrick Nunn that they can set loose in Utah and flip for more assets at the trade deadline. Gabriel is just a depth piece that helps the roster get to 15.

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This is a classic salary-dump trade. Utah helps solve the Lakers’ problem and gets a pick for doing so and actually gets some assets off the books that might have been hard to move anyway.