The Los Angeles Lakers’ brief momentum was squashed on Friday night by the Utah Jazz, giving the Lake Show a 2-6 record early on in the season. While the overall record has been poor for the Lakers, there is at least something there for the team to work with as the year goes on.
Most notably, Russell Westbrook has seemingly been rebirthed after moving to the bench and being the team’s sixth man. Westbrook is playing the best basketball that he has played in the purple and gold and if he is buying into this role then the Lakers need to let it ride.
And no, he shouldn’t get more minutes. The entire reason why this is working is that he is coming off the bench and is limited to spurts. Those suddenly asking for Westbrook to play more are ignoring the entire reason why this is working.
However, for the time being, the Lakers’ front office might be looking for trades that don’t involve Westbrook. There is no doubt that this roster needs to improve, and thus, the team could end up moving on from other players before Russ.
Here are 3 Lakers not named Russell Westbrook that could be traded this season:
1. Max Christie
This one is not that big of a name but it would not be shocking at all if the Lakers traded their second-round pick from the 2022 NBA Draft. He obviously will not be the focal point of any trade but he is an easy player to throw into a bigger deal for more value.
The Lakers do not want to trade future second-round picks and if a team asks for Max Christie as the icing on the cake of a certain deal then it is hard to see Los Angeles saying no, even if they did just use a second-round pick on him.
The Christie pick was doomed to fail from the start. Los Angeles needed someone who could contribute right away and to get that, the team should have drafted someone who was older and more polished. Instead, they drafted a 19-year-old guard to get buried in an already deep roster at guard.
By the time Christie develops as a pro, he probably won’t be in Los Angeles, anyway.
2. Kendrick Nunn
Kendrick Nunn was lighting the world on fire when the preseason began and it appeared that the guard was en route to a big season for the Lakers. Nunn was shooting at an insane clip from beyond the arc and while he was not going to shoot over 50% from three in the regular season, they were all promising signs.
However, Nunn started to sputter a bit at the end of the preseason and that has carried over into the regular season. Nunn has quickly gone from someone who Lakers fans expected to have a big year to someone who is already getting thrown around in the trade machine.
What makes it worse for Nunn is the fact that he is not even playing much. It is one thing to get off to a slow start and still get confidence from your team. That has not been the case at all for Nunn, who is averaging a measly 11.4 minutes per game this season.
In those 11.4 minutes per game, he is averaging 4.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. What is concerning is his shooting metrics. Nunn was meant to be one of the best shooters on this team and he has been one of the worst.
Nunn is shooting 31.8% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. There is no way around it: that is downright awful. Luckily for LA, he has a tradeable contract that actually has some monetary value, so it is easier to put him in a trade than it would be a minimum contract.
3. Patrick Beverley
The biggest move that the Los Angeles Lakers made in the offseason was trading Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson for Patrick Beverley. While it is still clear that the Lakers won the trade with how bad THT has been and his contract, Beverley has been extremely disappointing in Los Angeles.
Beverley absolutely does deserve more time to turn it around but it is safe to say that fans are growing impatient with his play. While he is still having a positive impact on defense, Beverley has been one of the most inefficient offensive players in the entire league this season.
With Westbrook continuing to play well off the bench and Dennis Schroder returning soon, it is hard to carve out as many minutes for Beverley. He should not be benched in favor of Westbrook (again, that defeats the purpose) but if Schroder returns and starts then Beverley will quickly see his minutes slashed.
Beverley is an expiring contract that has some weight to it, allowing the Lakers to package him and other assets in a deal. It could be something as simple as Beverley and Nunn for Doug McDermott in San Antonio. While the Spurs aren’t getting any youth in the deal, they would be turning McDermott’s two-year contract into expiring contracts.
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If Beverley was on the veteran minimum then he would not be a trade candidate at all. He would be tasked with figuring it out or simply not playing. But with his $13 million salary, Beverley is a prime candidate to be dealt.