The Los Angeles Lakers are getting painfully close to the 2022-23 season without trading Russell Westbrook. At this point in time, it seems like the Lakers are going to hold onto Westbrook and potentially look to trade him at the deadline.
There is a massive risk in doing so as the same deals that are possible now likely won’t be possible for the team when February rolls around. If there are no suitors, the Lakers could be risking a painfully slow start with Westbrook that they can’t get out of, essentially punting away this season.
However, the inverse could also be true. There could also be new teams that are willing to trade for Westbook based on how they play throughout the 2022-23 season.
Here are 3 teams that could become new Russell Westbrook trade partners for the Los Angeles Lakers:
1. Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are a young team and at this point in time, it makes no sense to bring Russell Westbrook in and have him potentially ruin the chemistry and development. However, when February rolls around and Orlando is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference it will become easier to trade some multi-year contracts to buy out Westbrook and save money.
Orlando has contracts to trade away as well. Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris are both under contract for the 2023-24 season and probably are not part of the team’s long-term plans. Orlando can then throw in an expiring Terrence Ross to make the money work.
Los Angeles would have to attach one first-round pick to make this happen. The return is not great but the price is cheaper with it being less than half a season of Westbrook. Meanwhile, Orlando frees up money past this season and gets a valuable future draft pick as a result.
2. Washington Wizards
Let’s not rule out the possibility of the Washington Wizards taking Russell Westbrook back this season. While it does not make sense for the Wizards at this point in time, there is absolutely a world in which this becomes the best move that Washington can make.
It is pretty obvious that the Wizards are going to fall behind in the Eastern Conference and will probably look to collect assets and hit the reset button. The best way that the team could do that would be to call the Lakers and see if Los Angeles wants to flip Westbrook for Kristaps Porzingis.
This would not be a great deal for the Lakers as Porzingis is also under contract next year and is not the most reliable big man to trade for. However, desperate teams do silly things (let’s not forget the Lakers traded for Westbrook in the first place) and I would not rule out Rob Pelinka talking himself into Kristaps if it only cost one first-round pick.
In theory, Kristaps would provide floor spacing for the Lakers that allows AD to play the four. Of course, every team talks itself into Kristaps when they trade for him and it usually is not as good as expected.
Another player would have to be thrown in and that would likely be Will Barton, who is on an expiring contract and would replenish some of the guard minutes lost by trading Westbrook.
3. Brooklyn Nets
The Los Angeles Lakers may not have been able to pull off a Kyrie Irving trade this offseason but that does not mean that a trade is completely out of the picture in the future. Perhaps this is why the Lakers are hesitant to do a deal now as they might believe that there is potential for a trade with the Nets in February.
Kevin Durant committed to the Brooklyn Nets to run it back with Kyrie and Ben Simmons in the 2022-23 season. While KD may have committed to that now, there is no guarantee that this group finishes the season with each other.
The Nets have been the biggest circus in the league and Kyrie being on the market at midseason is absolutely on the table. Just like this summer, the Nets are not going to have many suitors for Irving with the Lakers being the one team that pushes to make a deal happen.
Brooklyn could get one or two valuable draft picks from the Lakers for Irving, something they would not get from any other team. As far as Westbrook is concerned, the two sides could try and work a third team into the mix that can take on the contract and send other role players to Brooklyn.
Or, if things get really bad, the Nets might be in a position to punt on the 2022-23 season and could trade for Westbrook with the intention of buying him out.
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This trade would have an additional benefit for the Lakers as well as it would give the team an avenue to offer Kyrie a new contract after this season instead of asking him to potentially take a discount as an unrestricted free agent.