The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off the trade that fans have been begging to see on Wednesday. Los Angeles traded Russell Westbrook as part of a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz.
D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt are the incoming players for the Lakers. Utah picked up Westbrook (who they will likely buy out) as well as a protected 2027 first from the Lakers. Minnesota received Mike Conley, Damian Jones, Juan Toscano-Anderson and a slew of second-round picks (one from the Lakers).
While D’Lo as a player is getting a bit overhyped (like Westbrook was when he was initially traded for), this trade is about as good as Los Angeles could have gotten for Westbrook. In fact, some may even call it a heist — Danny Ocean-style.
3 reasons why Lakers’ Russell Westbrook trade was an absolute heist:
1. The protections on the 2027 first-round pick
When it was initially reported that the Lakers traded their 2027 first-round pick it was a bit concerning. While this trade undoubtedly makes the team better, it was worth wondering if trading a first-round pick when there are only 30 games left in the season was worth it.
Los Angeles obviously did not think it was worth it to trade an unprotected first and added genius protections on the pick to cover themselves if something goes haywire. The pick is top-four protected, meaning that if things go really bad they will avoid a situation like this year where there was concern that the New Orleans Pelicans would get Victor Wembanyama.
Even better is the fact that the pick does not roll over into another first if the Lakers do have a pick in the top four. Instead of rolling over into 2028, the pick instantly transfers into a 2027 second-round pick if LA is in the top four.
2. The Lakers acquired two young role players for essentially nothing
If the Lakers would have just traded a first-round pick to go from Russell Westbrook to D’Angelo Russell it would not have been a great trade. Russell has some Westbrook tendencies to his game and while he is a better shooter, he is arguably an even worse defender.
But that is not what the Lakers did. Los Angeles was able to bring in two role players alongside Russell to replace non-factors in the trade in Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones. The best part? The Lakers pulled this off without really giving up anything for the young players.
Think about it. The Lakers traded Westbrook, a future first-round pick (which was going to have to be moved with Westbrook anyway) and a future second-round pick that was not even theirs. LA landed two promising young role players for an additional second-round pick.
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Beasley and Vanderbilt are not perfect role players and to be frank, I am lower on them than most Lakers fans are. Beasley is another guard who isn’t great at defending and while Vanderbilt is really good defensively, he is essentially a non-factor on offense.
But they are young, are under team control for one more season each, and could be part of a long-term game plan for the Lakers. Los Angeles wanted to get younger and actually have some roster turnover and they may have that now with Beasley, Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura.
3. The Lakers set themselves up for more moves (in the short and long-term)
This very well could be the last move that the Lakers make at the deadline this year. If there is nothing else that particularly interests the team then they should roll with this roster and not make a trade just for the sake of making a trade.
That being said, Pelinka at least put the Lakers in a situation where they can make another move both in the short and the long term. Los Angeles still has multiple players that it can trade at the deadline this year as well as future draft capital to package them with to make something happen.
We will not see another trade that even comes close to being as big as the Westbrook trade but the team could continue to scoop up role players that can help this season as well as be part of the future outlook.
This also set the team up to make moves in the future as well. Beasley and Vanderbilt being under contract for another year makes them potential trade chips in a bigger trade if there is another disgruntled start over the summer.
Not only that, but the Lakers can get creative with D’Angelo Russell if need be over the offseason. The team (once again) has his Bird Rights and could go over the cap to re-sign him with the intent of eventually dangling him on the market.
Signing Russell to a four-year contract would be a bad move as no team would want to take that on and the Lakers would be stuck with Russell. But if Russell is willing to take two years of a larger salary than he would get as a free agent he could become a perfect trade chip to add into the next disgruntled superstar trade.
Lakers projected starting lineup with D’Angelo Russell
The Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell Westbrook in a massive deal that brought back D'Angelo Russell. Here is the projected starting lineup.
The Lakers are not losing the asset, which is important. If the team just let Russell Westbrook’s contract expire they would have lost the future opportunity to bring in another star in a future trade.