For a team that had LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook on the roster, the Los Angeles Lakers had a pretty underwhelming 2021-22 NBA season. The Purple and Gold failed to miss the playoffs, and it obviously upset a lot of loyal fans of the organization.
While there were a lot of reasons behind the poor performance of the Lakers, most of the blame was put on Russell Westbrook. So much so that the former NBA MVP was expected to be traded to another team during the offseason.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that Russ decided to exercise his humongous player option, the Lakers couldn’t find a suitable trade partner for Brodie. But that doesn’t mean that the Lakers didn’t come close to finding the perfect deal for the veteran point guard.
The Lakers Would Have Happily Included Their Future First-Round Picks On One Condition
The only big assets the Lakers can pair up to sweeten the deal for a potential Russell Westbrook trade are their two future first-round picks. Most of their other assets were already included in the blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis a couple of seasons ago.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the three teams were interested in a trade deal for Russ this summer. The three teams were the Brooklyn Nets, the Utah Jazz, and the Indiana Pacers. However, all three wanted the Lakers’ two future first-round picks. As per Dave, the only way the Lakers would give up those picks was for a Kyrie Irving or Donovan Mitchell trade.
Via ESPN:
The Lakers engaged in trade talks with the Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets, sources said, and the conversations often hit a similar snag. Several teams that the Lakers engaged with insisted on L.A. including both of their future first-rounders in a deal; the Lakers were determined to trade only one of the two unless the package would return a can’t-miss-talent such as Donovan Mitchell or Kyrie Irving.
With the Nets uninterested in breaking up their team and the Jazz accepting a major haul from Cleveland for Mitchell, the smaller deals that were discussed stalled out, and L.A. came into training camp with Westbrook on the roster.
As explained by McMenamin, both trade routes were closed for the Lakers during the offseason. While Russ is likely to remain on the roster for the next few weeks, the NBA insider also revealed the only realistic way to get more trade offers for Westbrook will be when NBA franchises inevitably decide to tank for Victor Wembanyama. It’s still a pipedream for the Lakers, but it’s unarguably the biggest opportunity the team will get to offload Westbrook.
