NBA Rumors: Lakers tried to trade Russell Westbrook for Ben Simmons

You didn’t have to be a basketball savant to think that Russell Westbrook wasn’t a good fit for the Los Angeles Lakers. As great of a player as he is, pairing him with LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t seem like a good idea.

Fast-forward to today and, even though he’s played fairly better than Davis for most of the year, it’s still clear that he’s the odd man out when they’re all three on the court. It’s not a matter of talent or effort, but how they mesh on the court.

That’s why, unsurprisingly, Rob Pelinka is reportedly considering moving on from the former NBA MVP. And, believe it or not, he’s even picked up the phone to try and make a move, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

NBA Rumors: Lakers Are Considering Trading Russell Westbrook

“The trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook simply hasn’t blended as well as Lakers figures hoped, and Los Angeles has held internal discussions on trade scenarios for Russell Westbrook, league sources told B/R. But moving Westbrook and the two years, $91 million remaining on his contract does seem unlikely,” read the report.

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Lakers Tried To Swap Westbrook For Ben Simmons

Fischer said that the Lakers are interested in trading for Ben Simmons. But even though that could solve both teams’ problems, it’s unlikely that the Sixers are interested in landing Westbrook at this point:

“The Athletic reported Los Angeles’ interest in Simmons on Monday, and Westbrook’s salary, outside of James’ and Davis’, is the only number on the Lakers’ books that can match Simmons’ own lofty deal. Even then, Westbrook is not a player on the Sixers’ list of hopeful returns, league sources told B/R, and conversations with the Lakers never developed very far,” Fischer added.

Then, on a different report, Fischer confirmed that the Lakers effectively reached out to the Philadelphia 76ersto try and get Simmons, but to no avail. Clearly, Philly isn’t interested in Westbrook’s massive contract:

“The only outgoing call I confirmed was to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons,” Fischer said told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “When I got the information that they called about Ben, the conversation pretty much was, ‘We’re interested in Ben. How would we get there?’ The obvious solution is Russell Westbrook. He’s not a player on that Sixers list that they have.”

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Russell Westbrook is one of the best players in the league but he’s not going to be easy to move given his history and his massive deal. The Lakers don’t have many appealing assets to package alongside him, either, so they’re pretty much stuck with him at this point.