The 2023 NBA Draft already looks like it is going to have one of the best top-two prospects in recent history with Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. The two players squared off in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and the entire NBA world, including the Los Angeles Lakers, had to tune in.
Even if things go awful for Los Angeles this season they are not going to have any sort of chance at Wembanyama or Henderson in the 2023 NBA Draft. Although the New Orleans Pelicans would love to see that Lakers pick in the top two, particularly no. 1.
While the Lakers have no realistic chance of landing the generational talent in Wembanyama, he still can have a massive impact on the team this season. In fact, there is a world in which Wembanyama helps LA become a true title contender.
Victor Wembanyama increases the chances that a Russell Westbrook trade happens for the Lakers.
It does not matter how many positive spins the team puts on Russell Westbrook, the fact of the matter is that this team is not going to contend for a championship with him on the roster. The front office tried moving him all offseason for a reason and if the right package comes along, Westbrook will absolutely be dealt.
Fortunately, there is a once-in-a-generation talent that is going to be the no. 1 pick in the draft and there are going to be plenty of teams that want a chance to get him. That is going to result in more tanking and could result in more 10-12 seeds simply punting on their chances of a play-in spot for a chance at Wembanyama.
With the new lottery structure, you do not have to have the worst record in the league to have a really high chance of getting the first overall pick. Thus, a team that is on the fringe of tanking or fighting for that play-in spot may instead choose tanking, which opens the door for a Westbrook deal.
If said team has role players (like Buddy Hield and Myles Turner) then they are going to want to get rid of them and take on Westbrook with the sole intention of buying him out. That improves the team’s chances of tanking for Wembanyama and gets them some Lakers picks in the process.
This could decrease the cost it takes to trade Westbrook as well. If there is a tank-hungry team at the deadline that wants to move players like Hield or Turner then they could take just one pick for Westbrook.
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Rob Pelinka needs to monitor the situation and see what teams start trending downward. Because once Wembanyama becomes a possibility, a Westbrook trade suddenly makes a lot more sense for a middling team.