Kyrie Irving’s dream of donning the Purple and Gold is currently the worst kept secret in the league. After three seasons with the Nets ended in disaster, Uncle Drew is looking to simplify things by reuniting with his ex-teammate in Los Angeles.
The problem is, Russell Westbrook is in the way, and moving him to Brooklyn in a straight-up deal for Irving is almost surely out of the question.
Over the past few hours, however, a new team has emerged as a potential trade destination for the disgruntled veteran point guard: the Utah Jazz.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report dropped the details in a recent piece.
(h/t Zach Stevens of Lakers Daily):
“If [Donovan] Mitchell is ultimately moved, and the Jazz are just kind of a wasteland of young picks or young players and draft picks, there has been increasing talk around the league about teams wondering if the Jazz would be a potential landing spot for the Lakers to send Russell Westbrook, where they could potentially get Patrick Beverley and other salary back,” said Fischer. “I’m not saying that’s been discussed. I’m not saying it’s likely to happen, but in theory if the Jazz in this rebuild, who just want picks, can get one or two picks from the Lakers to get an expiring contract and buy Russell Westbrook out, it seems like a scenario people around the league believe to at least be plausible.”
Jake Fischer on what’s new with the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/CKcrSVO92B
— 16and0 (@16and0) July 15, 2022
The Jazz are very much in a state where contending for a title is out of reach. Even if they manage to keep Mitchell around for another season or two, trading Gobert basically took the franchise several steps back and it will take them some time before they return to that level of play again.
If the Jazz take on Westbrook, they will get some picks in return that can set them up to fast-track their rebuild.
Either way, whether it’s Utah or some other team, the Lakers need to find a trade partner for Russ if they want to save next season. Rob Pelinka and the front office need to do whatever they can to get a deal done.
