Lakers Expected to Replace Russell Westbrook With 4-Time All-Star PG

The Los Angeles Lakers had no chance against strong contenders because they suffered too many injuries and also battled COVID. Frank Vogel was forced to change his lineup every other night. The Lakers fired him and now they have to get rid of players who failed to make an impact. According to most NBA analysts, the Lakers plan to replace Russell Westbrook this offseason.

Westbrook joined the Lakers through a blockbuster trade. Well, this trade didn’t work and Westbrook looked like a shelf of himself. He is not a good fit for the roster and Rob Pelinka has to find a way to get him out of LA.

Lakers to replace Russell Westbrook with a Knicks veteran

Zach Buckley from Bleacher Report discussed a potential scenario. According to him, the Lakers can trade Westbrook for Kemba Walker from the New York Knicks.

“Walker’s season was rough—though, to be fair, so was the Knicks’ as a whole—but that shouldn’t tank his value as either a trade target or perhaps a buyout candidate,” Buckley wrote. “Teams hurting for offense will notice he still tallied 16.4 points and 5.0 assists per 36 minutes while hitting 36.7 percent of his threes and 84.5 percent of his free throws, per Basketball Reference. Prediction: Walker is traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.”

ESPN’s trade machine says the Lakers could agree to a trade involving Walker, Julius Randle, Alec Burks, and Russ. Does this make sense?

Westbrook is on his way to New York?

Sam Quinn from CBS Sports believes the Knicks could be a potential destination for Westbrook.

“The Knicks have the same problem with Julius Randle that the Heat have with Butler: A hefty extension that hasn’t even begun is already looking like a possible mistake,” Quinn wrote. “Unlike the Heat, who have the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks are out of the playoffs. Miami would be sacrificing genuine championship equity by giving up Butler.

“The Knicks would be sacrificing the vibes of a former No. 4 seed. If they can get off of Randle and hand the power forward position over to Obi Toppin, they probably should. Throw in some combination of Evan Fournier, Kemba Walker and Nerlens Noel for good measure and you’ve got yourself a decent smorgasbord of role players for the Lakers.”

Let’s see how this goes. The list of possibilities is really long. Westbrook is in a bad situation right now. He beefed with Frank Vogel and also got into a thing with David Fizdale. His issue with the franchise will push him out of Los Angeles.