A 4-team trade package the Lakers should facilitate after Durant news
By Jason Reed
Why the Los Angeles Lakers should say yes to this trade:
Trading Russell Westbrook is obviously the core reason why the Los Angeles Lakers should say yes to this trade but the players the team is getting in return are worth exploring. There is a world in which the Lakers simply trade Westbrook for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner and then do a separate trade for someone like Patrick Beverley.
However, by doing it this way the Lakers might be able to cut down the cost of trading Westbrook. Since the Knicks are already trading the Jazz so much for Donovan Mitchell, the Lakers will get to trade less draft capital if they do business with Utah.
This keeps Utah from bringing in multi-year contracts like Julius Randle and Evan Fournier. That alone is worth adding protection on that second first-round pick and if everyone is desperate enough, the Lakers might be able to send just one first-round pick to Utah to make this happen.
However, based on everything we are hearing, it seems more likely that two picks is the starting point in a Westbrook trade.
Los Angeles gets a nice crop of players in this trade that can complement the stars on the team. Turner, Beverley and Fournier would instantly slot in as starters. What makes this more compelling than just trading for Hield is Fournier’s ceiling as a three and D guy. At his best, Fournier would be a much better fit for LA as he is just as good of a shooter with better perimeter defense.
Max Christie was thrown into the deal to make the roster work and while the Lakers did just draft him he is really raw and they are trying to compete now. This deal also keeps Talen Horton-Tucker in town if the Lakers want to explore trading him down the line.
And best of all for the Lakers, the team is only taking in $57,000 extra in salary, meaning there are no real luxury tax implications.