The Los Angeles Lakers‘ main goal this offseason is to trade Russell Westbrook as most of the issues last season stemmed from trading for him last summer. That is easier said than done, though, as Westbrook as the worst contract in the sport and the Lakers have to attach assets with him in order to move him.
The dream scenario for the last six weeks has been a Kyrie Irving trade but it no longer appears that will happen. Anything can happen in the NBA but the Lakers should be preparing to go a different route.
Thus, various NBA pundits (myself included) have theorized what a Westbrook trade could look like. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report recently put together five “brutal” Westbrook trades that the Lakers should actually consider.
With that statement, we decided to play a game of pass or pursue and decide whether or not the Lakers should actually consider these trades, as Swartz said.
1. Los Angeles Lakers send Russell Westbrook to the Charlotte Hornets
This was an idea that was originally mentioned at the beginning of the offseason and has not been talked about much since. That being said, it still makes sense for the Charlotte Hornets to be interested in this trade.
Gordon Hayward’s injury history is concerning and by doing this they can turn his multi-year deal into an expiring contract in Westbrook to free up cap space for the following summer. In doing so, the Hornets also pick up draft capital.
There is even potential for the two sides to loop the Utah Jazz in, giving Utah the expiring contract in Westbrook (along with a boatload of picks from LA and the Hornets) for Donovan Mitchell. Either way, what LA would send out would be relatively the same.
It is not the most exciting trade and Hayward has his risks but what else are the Lakers going to spend the cap space on next summer? If they are serious about contending they should make a move like this.
Verdict: Pursue
2. Los Angeles Lakers trade Russell Westbrook to the Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks lost Jalen Brunson this offseason after a stellar offseason for the point guard. The New York Knicks swooped in to make Brunson a $100 million player, leaving Luka Doncic without his best teammate in Dallas.
Doncic is one of the best players in the league and is one of the top favorites for the MVP award next season. While the supporting cast around him is not spectacular, the team is always going to be in the mix as long as they have Doncic.
Why the Mavericks would ever make this kind of trade is beyond me. In fact, a Dallas executive even reportedly gave a pretty brash answer when an insider asked if the team would be interested in acquiring Westbrook at all this offseason.
Dallas already traded for Christian Wood this offseason and it is obvious that they are still trying to contend with one of the best young players in the league. Russell Westbrook would actively make them worse and hurt their contending chances. That is not worth the extra picks for the Lakers.
Four years ago when Westbrook still had value in this league maybe they would have made this kind of trade. However, in the last four years, Russ has shown his true colors as a basketball player and he is a negative asset. No contending team wants to add that.
Plus, just from the Lakers’ side of things, they are giving up way too much for average role players. If they are going to trade that much then it should be for better players, which is possible.
Verdict: Pass
3. Los Angeles Lakers trade Russell Westbrook to the Indiana Pacers
This is the exact same price as the previous trade and is a significantly better return for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers would actually be getting players that can help and play a big role in the rotation next season. If presented with this trade and the Mavericks trade (even though Dallas would never say yes) the Lakers would take this trade 1,000 times out of 1,000.
But does that mean that the team should make this trade anyway? After all, trading away two first-round picks and a promising young player in Austin Reaves is a lot just to get off of Westbrook.
In reality, the Lakers can probably get this trade done without including Reaves, so that is not an issue. Indiana would definitely take just two first-round picks with Westbrook and if LA wanted to keep the roster at the same number of players they could package Wenyen Gabriel.
Personally, I think the Lakers should make this trade. Sure, two first-round picks is a lot but the Lakers actually have more first-round picks in the immediate future than fans realize. If the team is serious about contending and keeping LeBron in LA then they have to make a trade like this.
Hield is one of the best role-playing three-point shooters in the sport and Turner is someone who can space the floor offensively and can mask some of his defensive inefficiencies by having Anthony Davis next to him. Both players can work in LA and the team would be better with them instead of Westbrook.
Verdict: Pursue
4. Trading Russell Westbrook to the New York Knicks
Before even diving into the Lakers’ side of the trade, I just want to establish that there is never, in a million years, a chance that the New York Knicks make this trade. Earlier in the summer, this kind of trade did make sense with the season that the Knicks were coming off of.
However, after adding Jalen Brunson it is clear that New York is trying to win as soon as next season and they wouldn’t just do this salary dump to free up future money. The team would be even worse next season by putting Westbrook next to Brunson and that would not attract any free agents to come.
Sure, the Knicks would be better off trading those contracts but they are best off just waiting until the next disgruntled star wants out. Those contracts are valuable to trade in that regard and who knows, they could still trade them for Donovan Mitchell.
That being said, the Lakers should not fret at this kind of return. Let’s say it is a three-team trade where the Lakers get Randle and Fournier, the Jazz get Westbrook and all the picks and the Knicks get Donovan Mitchell. Should the Lakers pursue that? Yes.
I understand Randle has multiple years left under contract and played poorly last season. However, his contract is not really that bad in the grand scheme of things. He does not have a single season with a cap hit of $30 million or more. With the cap projected to grow with new TV money, that contract is going to age beautifully.
And personally, I do not think his play style would conflict with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The team can have LeBron be the de facto point guard with Fournier as the two guard, Randle as the three, Davis as the four and Thomas Bryant as the five. That is a team with good floor spacing that can score a lot of points.
If the price is only one first-round pick to help facilitate a Mitchell trade by taking on these deals the Lakers should jump all over.
Verdict: Pursue this return but this specific trade is unrealistic for New York
5. Los Angeles Lakers trade Russell Westbrook to San Antonio Spurs
Do you want to know what a true salary-dump trade would look like? Here it is. The San Antonio Spurs are a team that has cap space and can bring in Russell Westbrook would sending as much salary in return. They are also a team that is going to actively be bad this year in pursuit of the first overall pick and Victor Wembanyama.
In this trade, the Lakers would be saving $21.1 million against the cap and actually are not sending that many picks in return. While San Antonio would obviously push for more, the Lakers moving Westbrook for just one first-round pick would be a huge win for the team.
However, this is the case of the Lakers not getting anyone of note. Josh Richardson is a fine three and D guy but he is no better than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was for the Lakers. Doug McDermott is also fine but doesn’t move the needle, either.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of trade that fans should be worried about the front office making; a trade that saves the multi-billion dollar franchise the most money and sends the least amount of picks in return.
The front office would dress this up as a huge win because they got Westbrook out of LA but in reality, the team cannot pitch that they are trying to win a championship if this is the trade they make.
3 Lakers free agents who should get signed before 2022-23 season
The Los Angeles Lakers have plenty of free agents from last year's team. Here are three of those players that should end up getting signed to play.
As crazy as it sounds, it would be better to just keep Westbrook in LA and see if a better deal presents itself at the deadline.
Verdict: Pass