How the Lakers can jump in a Donovan Mitchell trade to the Hornets
By Jason Reed
While the Los Angeles Lakers are waiting for a Kevin Durant trade so they can trade Russell Westbrook for Kyrie Irving, the Utah Jazz are feeling out a potential Donovan Mitchell blockbuster. Utah is better off completely blowing it up and committing to the tank with assets and trading Mitchell allows the team to do that.
The New York Knicks have seemed like the most logical destination for some time now but that might not end up happening. Shams Charania said on an episode of ‘The Rally’ that talks between the Jazz and Knicks have stalled out, with the two sides not being in contact for two weeks.
Shams also brought up two potential teams that are interested in Mitchell: the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards. If the Hornets were to trade for Mitchell the Lakers could actually jump in, get Westbrook off the books and not have to send a first-round pick in the process.
How the Lakers can jump into a Donovan Mitchell trade with the Charlotte Hornets:
To get Mitchell, Charlotte is going to have to send the necessary contracts as well as a boatload of draft capital. Unfortunately for them, the contracts they can send for Mitchell are mutli-year deals and the tanking Jazz are not going to be interested in that.
As nice as a Gordon Hayward reunion would be in Utah, it is better for the team to not take back anyone that hurts their chances of tanking and is on the books past this season.
That is where the Lakers come in. The Lakers can happily take on those multi-year contracts while the Jazz can get the expiring contract in Russell Westbrook that they can simply buy out to save money.
Since the Lakers are the team doing the Hornets and Jazz a favor, they can likely make this happen without trading a future first. At the very most, the Lakers can send a future lottery-protected first-round pick, saving themselves from potentially giving up a valuable pick in 2027.
Charlotte has the picks to send as well. All of the team’s draft picks through 2029 are still in Charlotte’s possession, outside of the 2023 first-round pick. However, the Hornets have the Nuggets’ pick in 2023, so they still do have a pick.
The package would be something along the lines of Hayward and Terry Rozier going to the Lakers, Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson going to Charlotte with Westbrook, Gabriel, and a boatload of picks from Charlotte going to the Jazz.
Utah gets first-round picks from a franchise that is not run well that they can bank on while also getting multi-year salary relief. Charlotte gets their star and a solid role player and the Lakers turn Westbrook’s contract into two players while only taking on $2.6 million more in salary.
Sounds like a great deal for all parties involved.