Lakers: Ranking 3 potential Russell Westbrook trades without Kyrie Irving
By Jason Reed
1. A three-team trade that brings Julius Randle to the Lakers
I know that I am on an island with this one and that most Lakers fans do not want to see Julius Randle return to the team. Randle had a pretty disappointing season for the Knicks right after signing a new four-year contract with the team.
That being said, there are some compelling reasons why I think this would be the best non-Kyrie Irving trade for the Lakers to make. Sure, there are some risks with Randle, but I genuinely do believe that the Lakers could get the most out of him in LA.
Randle struggled last season because he did not have the same playmaking dynamic at the point guard position to get him the ball. Randle’s two best two-man lineups from his All-NBA season were with Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley. Rose played just 26 games last season and it impacted Randle.
The Lakers have someone who can get Randle the ball in LeBron James. Sure, Randle is a bit more ball-dominant than the Lakers would want, but he should be much more willing to make an adjustment than Westbrook was.
Plus, while his contract is longer than Westbrook’s the salary is actually just fine for LA. His cap hit never even reaches $30 million. In today’s NBA, with how the salary cap will continue to grow in coming years with new TV money, that is just fine for LA.
The premise of the three-team trade is one where Utah sends the Knicks Donovan Mitchell, the Knicks send a boatload of picks and perhaps a young asset or two to Utah. The Lakers would get Randle and another contract (like Rose) and would send Westbrook to Utah.
LA could maybe pull off this trade without including a first as Utah would be getting so many picks form the Knicks and LA would actually be doing the Jazz a favor by taking on the multi-year contract of Randle and giving them an expiring.
The absolute most the Lakers would have to send is one first-round pick and they could probably protect it as well.