Rich Paul denies that he tried to get the Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook

You don’t have to be a hoops mastermind to realize that Russell Westbrook has been a bad fit for the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s failed to live up to the expectations and fans are blaming him for the bad season.

Guilty or not, Westbrook has been the scapegoat more often than not. And it seemed like both parties could benefit from a fresh slate and move on from each other. That’s why he was linked with multiple trade rumors throughout the season.

Moreover, some reports claimed that LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul even tried to get the Lakers to trade Westbrook to the Rockets. Notably, the controversial executive reached out to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to categorically deny that story.

Rich Paul Denies He Pressured The Lakers To Trade Rusell Westbrook

“Rich Paul called me yesterday and asked me to quote him on this story about him, and Klutch Sports, and essentially them wanting the Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick to Houston for John Wall,” Smith said. “He wanted me to state emphatically that there was absolutely, positively no truth to that whatsoever. He never did that. He did not do that. The people who wrote the story never contacted him to get any kind of perspective from him on that.”

“It is an absolute lie, and he said ‘could you please do me a favor and quote me and tell the world that I specifically said that’s a damn lie. There is no truth. It never happened,’“ Smith added. “Just for what it’s worth, that’s what Rich Paul says about these stories that have been put out there. Fair enough. So I quoted him.”

LeBron has been nothing but supportive of Westbrook throughout the season, so it’s unsurprising to see that his agent is on the same page with him. Even so, one can only wonder what could’ve been if Rob Pelinka had pulled the trigger on that deal.