The narrative surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers all offseason has been about the future of Russell Westbrook. It is clear that the Lakers are a better basketball team if they can trade Westbrook, especially if they can trade him for actual NBA rotation players.
There seemed to be some legs in Westbrook being involved in a three-team trade between the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks for Donovan Mitchell. However, the Cavaliers swooped in and stole Mitchell, taking that off the table.
The Lakers could still make an assortment of trades with the Jazz because of the contracts they have to move but that is not the best-case package for LA. Los Angeles seemingly wants expiring contracts to have a shot at Kyrie Irving next offseason, which complicates things.
Does the team prioritize its flexibility and takes on worse players as a result? Or do they simply make the best trade talent-wise, ignoring next year’s cap? We attempted to accomplish both things, coming up with a four-team trade package that brings in the best talent possible while also remaining flexible for next summer.
The 4-team Russell Westbrook trade that checks all the boxes for the Lakers:
- Lakers receive: Bojan Bogdanovic, Myles Turner, Cam Reddish, Rudy Gay
- Jazz receive: Buddy Hield, Daniel Theis, Knicks’ 2025 first-round pick, Lakers’ 2023 second-round pick
- Pacers receive: Russell Westbrook, Quentin Grimes, Miles McBride, Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick, Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick
- Knicks receive: Jordan Clarkson, Wenyen Gabriel
There is a lot going on in this trade as it includes all of the teams that were potentially connected to the Lakers for a Russell Westbrook trade. There is a case to be made about every single team saying yes to this trade, and in the following pages, we will break down just that.
Let’s start with why the Lakers could say yes to this trade package.