Lakers Drop Decision on Rumored Blockbuster Trade for Former Top-10 Pick

The Los Angeles Lakers fired Frank Vogel right after the final game of the offseason. Vogel’s time with the Lakers was brought to an end. Who is next? NBA analysts bet on Russell Westbrook. Rob Pelinka didn’t want to trade the All-Star at the deadline, but he will have to make a move this offseason. According to several sources, the Lakers have made a decision on the blockbuster trade.

Charlotte Hornets Gordon Hayward was part of a big discussion. Trading Westbrook for Hayward made sense at one point of the discussion. However, Marc Stein is not convinced that Westbrook will join the Hornets.

“Yet it has since been conveyed to me that the Lakers have more boundaries than advertised when it comes to weighing Westbrook trades,” Stein said on April 17, 2022. “One league source said that injury histories would be a prime consideration in any deal, given how injuries have so routinely intruded upon the last two seasons for both 37-year-old LeBron James and 29-year-old Anthony Davis.

“Translation: The Lakers are unlikely to consent to a Charlotte trade headlined by Gordon Hayward — not after Hayward’s first two seasons in Charlotte have likewise been injury-filled. The Lakers surely understand that they need to factor in durability if they are taking on long-term money, which suggests that Terry Rozier would have to be the Southern California-bound headliner if the Hornets and Lakers eventually progress to serious trade talks.”

Lakers have to make decision on other blockbuster trade options

The Lakers failed to make an impact this season and lost games to weaker opponents. Westbrook went nuclear on the franchise and a lot of fans criticized him for the comments he made. Shaquille O’Neal wants him to accept the mistake. Well, Russ believes the Lakers didn’t even give him a chance.

“I would say this, so when I first got here and just being a person that, unfortunately, that people create narratives of me and who I am and what I do and what I believe in that are just not true,” Westbrook noted during an April 11 press conference. “I’m always having to like prove myself again year after year after year which is, to me, just unfair. There’s really no reason I have to do that. So, when I first got here, I just felt that I never was given a fair chance just to be who I needed to be to be able to help this team.”