One of the worst trades that the Los Angeles Lakers have made in recent history was trading three legitimate NBA assets and a first-round pick for two years of Russell Westbrook’s bloated contract.
Now, the Lakers have to trade multiple first-round picks just to get Westbrook out of LA. Not only that, but Westbrook’s price before the LA trade was already low. Prior to being traded to LA, the only player that Westbrook could be traded for was John Wall, which should tell you something.
It is obvious that the best version of the Lakers next season is without Russell Westbrook but trading him is easier said than done. The Lakers have some options to explore but it also seems like the team is preparing for the worst-case scenario.
A scenario in which Russell Westbrook returns to the Los Angeles Lakers.
It now seems more likely than ever that Westbrook will be on the Lakers at least to start next season based on the team’s efforts ahead of training camp beginning. NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Lakers could be holding another minicamp soon before training camp starts and if so, that Westbrook would be a part of it.
Stein writes, “Any sort of pre-camp gathering involving LeBron and his fellow vets would represent a key step in the Lakers’ efforts to move past all the tension.” That is the last thing that Lakers fans likely want to hear, as moving past the tension means that Russ will return.
There seems to be some optimism that the team can hold onto Russ now, see if it gets any better this upcoming season, and then trade him at the deadline if it doesn’t. In theory, the price for Russ is going to be cheaper at that time as he will be on an expiring contract.
There are just some issues with that. First, the role players that Utah wants to trade will absolutely be off the roster by then. Then there is a team like Indiana whose assets could actually increase in value during the season. Suddenly, the Lakers would have to compete with contending teams that are giving assets to Indiana for either Buddy Hield or Myles Turner (or both).
No star in the NBA has gotten more help than Russell Westbrook in recent years and has done less with it. While casual basketball fans will look at the box score and tout how talented he is, anyone that actually watched him play last season knows that this team isn’t going very far with him on the roster.
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Could the team be better than last year? Sure. But is that really the goal here? To be the eighth seed instead of the 11th seed?