Russell Westbrook has tried his hardest to redeem himself after a bad year last season made people look at him as a washed shell of his former self. While Westbrook isn’t the franchise point guard he once was, he is an extremely useful sixth man in the NBA and is one of the leaders to win that award.
The Lakers were linked with moving Russell Westbrook off the team in the summer but couldn’t find a trade that satisfied them, with every team asking for 2 first-round picks to take on Russ’s $47 million contract. After Russ’s play this season, many assumed he’d be safe as the Lakers can use his production off the bench and create a lot of cap space next season with his contract coming off the books.
Despite that, the Lakers have still asked around to see if they can move Westbrook for a better price, according to a Western Conference executive.
“Russ has played well for them, and they’re looking for a way to make a deal without giving up picks, which is going to involve taking on a longer contract, like a Tim Hardaway Jr. from Dallas or someone like that. They have talked about Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose, too, which might be as good a deal as they’re going to get.” (h/t Heavy)
The Knicks’ interest had been discussed in the summer but never picked up steam. Dallas had been linked briefly before team insiders dismissed the interest the team had in Russ, so it’s hard to believe that the situation has changed.
Is There A Good Russell Westbrook Trade Available?
Unless the Lakers are using the $47 million Russ is owed to get a superstar-caliber player who makes around the same money, it’s a wasted exercise for the Lakers. Trading for Evan Fournier or Tim Hardaway Jr. extends their cap hit and neither player is good enough to dramatically alter the Lakers’ season. In fact, losing Russ for a player like that might hurt the Lakers this season.
If the Lakers were willing to add picks, they could have had Myles Turner and Buddy Hield while relying on their bloated guard rotation to provide the creation that Russ has. That hesitance has lasted till the end of the trade deadline and it doesn’t look like it will change.
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