Don’t be excited — Lakers trade rumors involving Spurs are nothing new

All offseason there have been trade rumors swirling around the Los Angeles Lakers as everyone on planet earth knows that the team is better off trading Russell Westbrook. However, Westbrook is perhaps the least valuable trade asset in the league, so the cost for the Lakers moving him is comparable to the team trading for an impact player.

There have been a lot of potential suitors that have stepped to the plate during these trade rumors. At one point, it seemed like a Kyrie Irving deal with the Brooklyn Nets was inevitable, but then the trade market for Kevin Durant stunk so the Nets decided to just run it back with a troublesome core that might blow up by midseason.

Then there was potential for the Lakers to be included in a Donovan Mitchell trade. That was before the Cleveland Cavaliers swooped in and made a surprising deal for the star shooting guard. After that, the remaining options ended up just being trades with teams who are tanking for Victor Wembanyama and can take on salary.

One of those teams has always been the San Antonio Spurs, who have at least been in the loop since the beginning of these rumors. This week, a report about the Spurs and the Lakers has gotten seriously twisted, making it seem like San Antonio wants to trade for the former MVP.

There is no new news around the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The initial report came from Andy Larson of The Salt Lake Tribune. Larsen was breaking down the possibility of the Utah Jazz trading for Westbrook following the Bojan Bogdanovic trade and a certain snippet that involved the Spurs started circling Lakers media and being seriously misrepresented as a result.

The snippet is as followed:

"“Complicating matters, though, is that the Jazz might not be the only team willing to take on Westbrook’s contract in order to get those picks. Indiana and San Antonio have also expressed that interest, per multiple media reports. The Pacers could trade Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, while the Spurs could move along Doug McDermott, Josh Richardson, and/or former Ute Jakob Poeltl.”"

This quote has led Lakers media to proclaim that San Antonio is reportedly interested in a potential Westbrook deal for this package. But that is not at all what this snippet is even saying, and here at Lake Show Life, we are committing to clearing up misconceptions.

This is not on Larsen, either. He didn’t report anything new. He was just conjecturing on the status of the market. Yet somehow this conjecture turned into a “report” about the Spurs’ motives, which doesn’t even make sense considering Larsen does not cover San Antonio.

Here is what Larsen is saying, in a nutshell. First, he points out the fact that Indiana and San Antonio have expressed interest, per multiple reports. He is referencing previous reports that we have heard this offseason that there it at least interest from Indiana and San Antonio. That is not new. We already knew that.

Then all Larsen is doing is explaining what either team would have to trade to compare it to what the Jazz could trade. This is not a report that the Spurs are “interested” in this trade package. This is Larsen saying that the Spurs have been reported as interested this offseason, and if so, that is a trade package that works monetarily.

Does this mean that a Spurs trade is not going to happen? Not at all. This has just been the reality of the situation literally all offseason. This trade potential has been there with the Spurs all summer. The Lakers could have made this trade two months ago if they attached two first-round picks to Westbrook.

3 Jazz players on the chopping block the Lakers could sign

The Los Angeles Lakers may not make a trade with the Utah Jazz but they could sign one of these players who are on the chopping block.

The rumor mill is just churning in place and somehow it is being passed off as new news. Don’t fall for the noise.