The Los Angeles Lakers are in rebuilding mode, after a dismal 2021/22 season which saw them finish 11th in the West with a 33-49 record and out of the NBA playoffs. Much of the finger pointing was towards Russell Westbrook who produced an 18.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 7.1 APG season.
Still the Lakers will need to rebuild as clearly the current squad was not up to standard and with Carmelo Anthony (37), LeBron James (37), Dwight Howard (36), and Anthony Davis (29) the Lakers are not the fountain of youth, and the rest of the younger squad are still works in progress.
At the moment the Lakers have 8 free agents on their roster, but the club is still looking to offload Russell Westbrook’s massive $47-million player option for next season.
How would a Russell Westbrook trade work?
According to an editorial in the LA Times, Westbrook, who had a decent season by the Lakers poor standards, would be crazy to turn down such an extension and put the team in a situation to trade the point guard although takers might be hard to come by giving his massive salary.
According to the editorial the Lakers should expect to lose either their 2027 first-round pick or their 2029 first-round pick (or both) to a team that would want to offload long term contract players to the Lakers for a player on a big option year salary.
Sources have told the Times that Charlotte and Indiana would be willing to take a big gamble on Westbrook, who showed he can still hang in the NBA’s best but surrounded by talent that can pick up some of the load.
The Knicks were also mentioned in the article as a team that could pull the trigger, but the Knicks have shot themselves in the foot with expensive contracts before with little to no results in the end.