Championship Contender Listed As Landing Spot For Russell Westbrook

A championship contender can help the Los Angeles Lakers handle Russell Westbrook and his current situation. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is actively looking for a trade partner. The franchise didn’t trade Westbrook at the deadline in February and didn’t even think of using first-rounders to make this transition easier. The front office changed the perspective and even promised to use future first-round picks to make things work.

Ric Bucher from Fox Sports reported that the Miami Heat could be the best landing spot for Westbrook in free agency.

“Even then, team executives and scouts could only come up with one potential landing spot: the Miami Heat. Team president Pat Riley has a history of cultivating fiery competitive players, from Alonzo Mourning to Brian Grant to Jimmy Butler,” Bucher wrote. “He hoped that point guard Kyle Lowry would be the finishing piece to another championship-caliber team last season, but after posting the best record in the East, the team lost to Boston in the conference finals. Lowry, plagued by several nagging injuries, played in only 10 of their 18 postseason contests and was a shell of himself, averaging 7.8 points on 29.1 percent shooting.

“Depending on how this season goes for the Heat in general and Lowry in particular, Westbrook might be a worthwhile gamble: ‘It makes sense,’ an Eastern Conference executive said. ‘Miami believes they can rehabilitate anyone.’ All that, of course, depends on Westbrook recognizing that he needs to be rehabilitated, that he needs to shift his perspective on who and where he is in his career.”

Another championship contender can take Russell Westbrook

Miami is not the only team involved in latest rumors. The Utah Jazz have sent some of their players away. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are out. Will the Jazz get Westbrook? Absolutely, but Pelinka will have to add a couple of first round picks to his offer.

In his convo with Sean Deveney from Heavy, a Western Conference executive said that the Lakers future draft selections are important. Pelinka can use these picks to improve the current roster.

Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports reported that the Lakers want to get Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Jordan Clarkson, thus improving their perimeter shooting.