Russell Westbrook is an enigma at the moment as his future is one of the NBA’s most intriguing storylines. There have been suggestions that the Lakers might run it back with their current Big 3 next season even though it hasn’t worked at all this campaign. Injuries have been a factor for LA though, so it could make sense to give it another try considering that Westbrook’s contract is quite hard to move next season.
That’s not to say that the right offer won’t sway the front office though, as the Lakers are likely to be far from solid on this position if it even is the primary plan. And with that being a consideration, there are teams in the league that could use a player the caliber of Westbrook on their roster. And according to NBA insider Marc Stein, one team, in particular, is one to watch on that front.
Charlotte has been increasingly mentioned by league insiders as a team to watch on the Russell Westbrook trade front, per @TheSteinLine
(Via https://t.co/VLnvss1q1X) pic.twitter.com/NwN6opDBiq
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 7, 2022
“Charlotte has been increasingly mentioned by league insiders as a team to watch on the Russell Westbrook trade front.”
The Hornets have their up-and-coming guard that can do it all in LaMelo Ball and playing alongside Russell Westbrook even for a season, could be valuable in terms of developing LaMelo and helping him learn what it takes to go to the next level.
On top of that, Charlotte has the salaries to make such a trade work as well, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier are set to earn over $50M combined next season. The team is in the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference this season but will likely not achieve anything significant in the playoffs even if they do manage to make it there.
Whether the Lakers will want to do such a deal remains to be seen but having two contracts like Rozier and Hayward to play with next season would also allow them some flexibility in retooling their roster. However it goes down, there’s likely a lot more to come regarding Russ this offseason.
