Lakers Advised To Trade Future Hall Of Famer This Season

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t make any major moves this offseason. Rob Pelinka didn’t trade Russell Westbrook despite all the rumors related to his future with the team. The Lakers faced different challenges in the offseason and now they are advised to trade the future Hall of Famer. Again.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has great plans for the veteran and he was more than satisfied with his performance in the preseason. The Lakers didn’t win the preseason opener, but Westbrook was great. The franchise seems determined to enter the new season with Russ on the roster and some people aren’t happy about it.

Lakers wanted to trade the Hall of Famer

Zach Buckley from Bleacher Report discussed this topic in “Player Every NBA Team Should Trade This Season.” As you may be guessing, he picked Westbrook. Buckley wants the Lakers to get rid of the one-time MVP as soon as possible.

“Seriously, how have the Los Angeles Lakers not traded Russell Westbrook yet? Westbrook is a poor fit for this roster and as a LeBron James sidekick in particular,” Buckley wrote. “The ideal co-star for James has a reliable three-point shot, doesn’t need many touches to be effective and relentlessly attacks the defensive end. What boggles the mind is not only how far Westbrook is from that description, but how well it applies to Patrick Beverley. The Lakers have an easy, obvious solution at point guard once Westbrook gets the boot, and they even have a Beverley backup after adding Dennis Schröder in free agency.”

Sam Amick, Shams Charania, and Jovan Buha reported that the Lakers wanted to trade Westbrook and a couple of first-round picks to the Indiana Pacers. Pelinka wanted Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. This trade didn’t happen and Westbrook joined his team in the preseason opener.

Buckley says the Lakers should send Brodie to the Pacers and get both Turner and Hield.

“Any Westbrook deal holds major addition-by-subtraction potential, but the oft-discussed swap with the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield—which reportedly reached the “one-yard internally” for L.A., per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha (h/t Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll)—looks particularly enticing given how much L.A. could use Turner’s rim protection and Hield’s perimeter shot,” Buckley wrote. “Get. It. Done.”