Proposed Russell Westbrook trade only costs Lakers one first-round pick
By Jason Reed
The Russell Westbrook saga has been long and drawn out for the Los Angeles Lakers. It has been obvious for the last four months that the team is better off trading Westbrook and the situation has only continued to drag throughout the summer and into the fall.
As it stands right now, with the Kyrie Irving route long gone, the Lakers essentially have two options: jump in as the third team in a Donovan Mitchell trade with the Knicks and Jazz or trade Westbrook and an assortment of picks for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner.
The Pacers trade might be off the table considering what Indiana wanted to get from the Lakers and the three-team trade might be harder to pull off after RJ Barrett signed an extension with New York.
Both trades are still possible and while an Indiana return would have more talent, the Lakers might be more inclined to make a three-team trade if they only have to trade one draft pick. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Jazz President Danny Ainge covets the Lakers’ future first-round picks, so perhaps just one is enough in a bigger deal that includes assets from New York.
That is exactly what Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report theorizes could happen. In his latest column, Pincus comes up with the following three-team trade package between the Lakers, Knicks and Jazz:
This trade would be fantastic for the Los Angeles Lakers.
There was a similar trade that we broke down that would be a disaster for the Lakers to say yes to. While similar, the two trades are different. The “disaster” trade the Lakers should avoid is one that nets them two bad multi-year contracts (Fournier, Mike Conley) and costs two first-round picks.
This return only brings in one potentially bad multi-year contract in Fournier and only costs one first-round pick. While Fournier’s contract is not the best, it is not completely detrimental and he still has value as a three and D role player in this league.
He might not quite be Buddy Hield at shooting guard for the Lakers but there is reason to believe that LeBron James and Darvin Ham can unlock the valuable role player that existed in Orlando. That is not too far gone.
Bogdanovic is a nice role player that could slot in as the third scorer on the team and be really good in that role. He essentially could be this team’s much better version of 2020 Kyle Kuzma. At his best, Fournier can be an even better version of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Reddish is a flier addition that the Lakers would hope to unlock, so expecting too much out of him is unfair. However, with the addition of Patrick Beverley as well, this trade would follow an easy trend to notice. Pelinka would be adding players who are similar to the role players he had in place in 2020.
Utah probably needs more picks from New York (who has plenty of picks to spare) since Barrett is not in the trade. However, this still gives the Lakers a pretty solid starting five to role with.
There is potential in a Beverley, Bogdanovic, LeBron, Davis, Thomas Bryant starting five with Fournier being a closing lineup option if he proves to elevate his play in LA.