Report: Lakers Officials Don’t Want to ‘Pay a Premium’ to Trade Russell Westbrook After Giving up so Much to Acquire Him

The Los Angeles Lakers have to make a move to adjust their roster and fix the damage. The team lost many games of the regular season. It’s interesting to note that the Lakers entered the regular season as favorites to win the championship. When did things go wrong? The Lakers front office decided to trade for Russell Westbrook.

Yes, LA traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell to get the veteran. It didn’t work for the team. Westbrook’s trade was supposed to be a good move for the team. Well, the veteran struggles to shoot. His struggle is more than obvious and fans are a bit frustrated. Some of them say that the front office should trade Westbrook.

Lakers front office won’t trade Russell Westbrook now

Trading Westbrook away won’t be that easy. His deal is pretty big and his struggles are even bigger. He is not the most ideal trade asset for the Lakers. Several reports have suggested that the Houston Rockets have a trade deal for the Lakers. They don’t want him, but they do want to get rid of John Wall.

According to most recent reports, the Lakers can’t consider trading Westbrook so soon. In other words, they may be willing to give him another chance.

“Yet there are also major optics concerns for the Lakers,” Marc Stein wrote. “Team officials, sources say, do not want to pay a premium to move on from Westbrook so soon after the Lakers gave up so much to get the Los Angeles native. Remember: They had to send Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and the No. 22 pick in last July’s draft to Washington after [LeBron] James and [Anthony] Davis encouraged the Lakers’ front office to go all-in for Westbrook rather than proceed with GM Rob Pelinka’s plans to trade for Sacramento’s Buddy Hield.”

The Lakers have a 24-24 record at this point of the regular season. Westbrook’s inconsistency played a big role in this record. He can do better. He should do better. Let’s see if Westbrook is able to keep his spot in LA. He is a winner, and everyone knows it.