Eliminating Russell Westbrook is a real headache for the Lakers, given his salary and disappointing season. Nevertheless, there would be a trading opportunity… and the least we can say is that it has a certain touch of irony to the Purples and Golds.
It’s an open secret, the Lakers want to end the experiment immediately Russell Westbrook† Arriving last summer, the leader disappointed across the board and the franchise is looking to move on, after the campaign’s premature end (11th in the West). Except that if he only has one year of contract, the former Wizard will get $47 million in 2022-23… So it’s complicated to set up an exchange, the competition doesn’t want to squeeze his finances either.
Under these circumstances, Californians could do anything to move forward and a radical solution should even be slightly considered in the City of Angels. However, another savings option could finally exist for GM Rob Pelinka and his staff, according to insider Marc Stein’s words. A team in full transition could indeed accept a deal, namely the Pacers. The idea would be that they would free up space by getting rid of RW very quickly, while LA could get two big players in return:
Westbrook traded with the Pacers for… Buddy Hield?
The Lakers have a well-documented interest in Buddy Hield and may be offering Russell Westbrook and his expiring $47.1 million contract to Hield and Malcolm Brogdon. Such a trade depends on how much compensation the Lakers would be willing to give the Pacers for taking the deal and then (you can only imagine) breaking up with Westbrook.
We are not going to hide it, this situation would still be quite ironic. Indeed, it was Hield who had to complete the Big Three of the Purples and Golds before the Brodie was finally chosen, LeBron James who has supposedly vetoed every other possibility. It would therefore look a bit like a major admission of failure… That said, the skill behind the guard’s bow and his scoring abilities would do the Angelinos a world of good.
In addition, we must not forget the potential of Brogdon, who could be very interesting next to the king. The former ROY has a good basketball IQ, is handy (50-40-90 club shooting percentages) and showed some versatility in 2021-22 with over 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. As Stein points out, the leader should actually be leaving this summer. Having already cleaned up Domantas Sabonis, Indiana was able to do the same with him to completely rebuild:
“Sources say the Pacers have also left numerous rival teams with the impression that they will try to move Malcolm Brogdon this offseason.”
(Through https://t.co/O3dfj85oBz† pic.twitter.com/0tFs3szhGo
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) Apr 9, 2022
Sources say the Pacers have also given many rival teams the impression that they will try to trade Malcolm Brogdon this off-season.
Russell Westbrook sent to Indianapolis, this is an option that will really be considered on the Lakers side. In any case, the consideration obtained would be very useful to bounce back next year, with Brogdon and Westbrook perhaps a better match for LeBron James.
