Vintage Nike Phoenix Suns #3 Chris Paul Men3 Russell Westbrook trades the Lakers could make this summer
The biggest — and most obvious — obstacle the Lakers are going to have clear in the upcoming offseason will be figuring out what the future holds for Russell Westbrook. While the preference seems to be, consiNBA Hardwood Classicsdering how disastrous this season went, for him to not play in Los Angeles again, shedding a contract north of $47 million next year will be no easy task, to say the very least.
But it’s not quite as impossible a scenario as it may seem. While the Lakers have cornered themselves when it comes to moving Westbrook, it’s still a corner with some options to get out of, even if it’s going to require some flexibility and pain to do so. Over the last week alone, multiple reports about potential Westbrook suitors have surfaced, showcasing some of the options the Lakers may have.
With that in mind, here’s a look at three potential suitors and trades the Lakers could make to part ways with Westbrook.
Charlotte Hornets
One of the first teams to emerge as a potential Westbrook suitor, the ties between owner Michael Jordan and Westbrook, who has a signature shoe cp3 phoenix suns jersey with Jordan Brand, are obvious. But there are other reasons the Hornets could be intrigued to make a deal with Los Angeles.
Led by LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, the Hornets have built an exciting young core moving forward. But that young core is going to need to be paid soon, starting with Bridges this summer and Ball soon after. The problem, then, is the large Gordon Haywar Nike Phoenix Suns #25 Mikal Bridges Men 2022-23 City Edition NBA Jersey - Cherry Blossom White Mend contract already on the payroll.
Predictably, the massive four-year, $120 million contract Hayward signed in 2020 did not age well, especially as he has dealt with injuries each of the last two years. Charlotte very well may be looking to get off that deal in exchange for Westbrook’s expiring, which would allow them more flexibility to pay Ball in the future. When healthy, Hayward is still a productive player, but he’s played just 44 and 49 games the last two seasons and is hardly the insurance against injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis the team was searching for in adding Westbrook.
A Hayward-for-Westbrook trade wouldn’t work financially, as the Hornets would need to shed about $8 million more in salary. Short of including Kelly Oubre — unlikely given his age and productivity this year — or a sign-and-trade with Montrezl Harrell — unlikely given how things ended last time in Los Angeles with him — the other potential option could be going after PJ Washington.
A forward with some versatility that’s struggled to find a consistent role in Charlotte, Washington still has range and defensive ability that would make him intriguing to pair alongside Anthony Davis. With Bridges and Ball ascending and set for big paydDemar Derozan Jerseysays, PJ Washington, who has not been able to establish himself in the same way Bridges has, could be the odd man out.
Washington is in the final year of his rookie deal and would be set for a bigger contract in the summer of 2023. The Hornets could get out ahead of the matter by dealing him this upcoming offseason, potentially as part of a deal to help offload Hayward’s contract as well. It would put the honus on the Lakers to come to a decision on paying Washington, or trading him, next season.
To complete the deal financially, the Hornets would have to add one more player on a smaller contract while the Lakers would likely have to add some type of draft pick compensation, considering the talent returning to them in the deal. But this could be a way for the Lakers to bring back talent, with caveats, while shipping out Westbrook.
Indiana Pacers
While much of the talk about Westbrook going to the Pacers has been more speculative, there is a framework of a deal that could work for Kids NBA Clothingboth sides. Unlike the Hornets, the Pacers are outright tanking and, because of that, make sense as a Westbrook suitor.
They also have some large contracts that would make sense to trade for, one of them hilariously being our old friend Buddy Hield. Malcolm Brogdon is another player on a big contract that the Lakers have previously had an interest in during past offseasons.
Rival executives believe the Pacers could emerge as a potential suitor for Russell Westbrook, per @ShamsCharania.
Teams expect Indiana to be open to trade conversations around Malcolm Brogdon and Buddy Hield this offseason.
More intel: https://t.co/xiTvvQ23GE pic.twitter.com/4fvtwaqxgq
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 11, 2022
Like the Hornets deal, the Pacers would be turning a pair of long-term contracts into one big short-term cap hit. That isn’t quite seen as enough help, though, and the Lakers would likely have to attach an asset to the Pacers to sweeten the deal. Ultimately, teams know the Lakers have backed themselves into a corner, and will squeeze them for every asset possible.
Adding Talen Horton-Tucker to the trade would still work financially. Adding some of the team’s limited picks, either with or without Horton-Tucker, could work as well. Packaging Westbrook and Tucker for Hield and Brogdon saves the Lakers $13.5 million in the short term as well.
The catch in this deal is two-fold. For one, Brogdon has plenty of injury concerns, and has played just 150 of a possible 231 games across the last three years. And yet, Brogdon is signed through the 2024-25 season while Hield is signed through the 2023-24 season. This deal would severely limit the Lakers’ future spending but would give them two productive — when healthy — players on the roster. Perhaps that’s a more-preferred risk to going after Hayward for the Lakers, but it presents a similar type of downside if it goes wrong.
New York Knicks
The Knicks are always liable to doing something wild, and trading for Westbrook might just be that move. For one, they have the contracts to match up with it. For two, unlike either Indiana or Charlotte — who would almost ceNBA Rompersrtainly buy out Westbrook’s contract — the Knicks might be crazy enough to actually play him.
Putting together the trade is relatively simple. Pick some combination of Julius Randle (due $26.1 million in 2022-23), Evan Fournier ($18 million), Derrick Rose ($14.5 million) and Alec Burks ($10 million) that gets you in the ballpark of Westbrook’s $47 million and you’re more or less set.
The Lakers have long chased Rose, and could see adding him as a positive, despite him being a 33-year old point guard that can’t shoot. Acquiring Randle would only come after some awkward apologies and/or “forgive and forget” acknowledgments considering how things ended in his first tenure in LA, too (noticing a trend here?). Fournier and Burks would be wings the team sorely lacked this season, though the former would come on a much longer contract than the latter.
In reality, this would effectively just be an instance of two teams swapping problems. The Lakers and Knicks had talks of some sort during the trade deadline, though they almost certainly didn’t include Westbrook or likely many of the players that would need to be included in this deal for it to work financially. But there is an established relationship there.
For the Lakers, it’s a shuffling of the deck, turning one really bad contract into multiple bad contracts in hopes of either a change in scenery leading to more production from the players acquired or smaller contracts may be easier to move. For the Knicks, the motivations are similar: Trading out players who didn’t work for one that is only under contract for one year and allowing another reset next summer while maybe putting some butts in seats in the interim.
None of these trades are ideal, obviously, because an ideal Lakers trade of Westbrook that another NBA team would agree to does not exist. In some wa suns playoff shirtsy, the Lakers are going to take a hit if they’re going to get rid of Westbrook, it’s just a matter of assessing which hit hurts less and can help the team win more in potentially the final year they’ll have James and Davis together.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
More From
Darvin Ham takes blame for Lakers collapse against Pacers Lakers lose heartbreaker to Indy, 116-115 Report: Lakers roster feels they are only ‘couple of players away’ from contention Rob Pelinka has made it impossible to focus on the basketball Report: Laker phoenix suns white jerseys prefer patience, may wait until January for Buddy Hield, Myles Turner trade LeBron James credits improved chemistry for Lakers recent winning run