Russell Westbrook To Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Trades Worth Exploring For OKC Thunder
By Sai Mohan
Russell Westbrook, not expected to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder next summer, is likely to be traded at some point this year. Should the Los Angeles Lakers sacrifice prized assets to secure their next franchise player?
David Jacoby, one half of the famous Jalen & Jacoby podcast team, reckons the Los Angeles Lakers are about to “make a stupid move” and trade away their young lottery picks for Russell Westbrook.
Jacoby isn’t the only analyst who figures the Lakers have the best shot at landing Westbrook. Fred Katz of the Norman Script reported there’s “growing speculation” around the league that the athletic guard will land in Los Angeles, either via trade this summer or free agency the next.
Besides Jacoby and Katz, Matt Moore of CBS Sports and Zach Lowe of ESPN share the same opinion.
While Moore felt Lakers are the “most logical destination” for the perennial MVP candidate, Lowe reckoned the Purple & Gold should hesitate to give up assets if Mitch Kupchak & Co. are confident that Westbrook would re-sign next year.
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"“In theory, the Lakers should simply wait for Westbrook to hit free agency, stink badly enough to keep their pick yet again and sign him without dealing away any assets — the road not taken with the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony,” Lowe wrote in the aftermath of Kevin Durant’s exit from Oklahoma City."
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To Lowe’s point,
why should Lakers give up anything?
Why would they trade away young pieces for a one-year rental who could bolt next summer? Does it make any sense? It does.
Because 1) they would acquire Westbrook’s Bird rights and could offer him the most lucrative five-year contract, 2) they would give him an extra year with new coach Luke Walton, and 3) they would eliminate the risk of another franchise positioning themselves to woo him after a year together.
The Lakers have five pieces with good trade value: D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr.
Clarkson, set to sign a new contract, can’t be traded until Dec. 14 due to the three-month trade restriction. Nance, at best, is expected to be a role player in the league. Essentially, we’re talking about Russell, Ingram and Randle.
Would Thunder like all three of them? They would, but here’s how Lakers can retain one of the three and make this trade go down.
1. Involve Timberwolves in three-way deal
Lakers get: Russell Westbrook
Thunder get: D’Angelo Russell, Shabazz Muhammad, Lou Williams, Jose Calderon
Timberwolves get: Julius Randle
ESPN Trade Machine: Approves
Why the Lakers do it: They get to retain Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson while adding Russell Westbrook. That means they’re giving Westbrook decent pieces to work with.
If this trade goes down, their starting five would look like this: Timofey Mozgov, Luol Deng, Ingram, Clarkson and Westbrook. Still unlikely to make the playoffs, but Westbrook can lead that team to 35-40 wins.
They would get better by next season when Ingram bulks up and becomes a little more NBA-ready.
Why the Thunder do it: Russell has impressed a lot of coaches and scouts in the Summer League. Some reckon the second-year guard has the tools to become an all-star caliber point guard.
With Durant’s exit, there’s a major hole at the 3 spot. Muhammad has been improving on a yearly basis. In April, the forward scored a career-high 35 points to hand Golden State one of its 9 defeats in the 73-win season.
Williams and Calderon are nice veteran guards to back-up Russell and Victor Oladipo.
Why the Timberwolves do it: Why not unite former Kentucky Wildcats Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle in the frontcourt? Gorgui Dieng averaged 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds last season but Randle has more upside with the potential to become a perennial double-double machine.
Timberwolves won’t mind losing Muhammad and adding Randle since Andrew Wiggins is expected to start at the 3 spot next season with Brandon Rush and Damjan Rudez backing him up.
2. Sacrifice Ingram and Russell
Lakers get: Russell Westbrook
Thunder get: D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Lou Williams
ESPN Trade Machine: Approves
Why the Lakers would do it: Giving up on Russell and Ingram could prove to be a move that they regret a few years from now. But they get to keep Randle and Clarkson – two players who are perhaps a little more accomplished at this stage.
Clarkson averaged 15.5 points last season while Randle averaged a double-double for the season. Russell and Ingram are likely to take another season or two before putting up those kinds of numbers.
Why the Thunder would do it: It’s the perfect scenario for Oklahoma City. In Russell, they get a potential superstar combo guard. In Ingram, they get the player who has drawn more comparisons to Kevin Durant than any other wing in recent memory.
In Williams, they get a nice scoring option off the bench. Also, Ingram and Russell are on rookie contracts; that gives the rebuilding Thunder enough time to invest in the core of Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, Russell and Ingram.
3. Get OKC Gordon Hayward
Lakers get: Russell Westbrook, Joe Ingles
Thunder get: Gordon Hayward, D’Angelo Russell
Jazz get: Jose Calderon, Brandon Ingram
ESPN Trade Machine: Approves
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Why the Lakers would do it: Again, they would have to sacrifice Russell and Ingram but get to retain Clarkson and Randle. Also, Ingles showed very good potential in the limited playing time he received in Utah last season.
He’s the ideal 3-and-D wing to come off the bench to back-up Luol Deng. The Lakers could ask for Oladipo but Thunder can’t trade him before the August 22 trade restriction.
Why the Thunder would do it: This is a no-brainer for Thunder. They give up Westbrook’s expiring contract for an all-star caliber wing in Hayward and a potential superstar guard in Russell. It’s worth noting that Hayward is a gamble since he enters free agency next year.
But the sweet-shooting wing would be a decent replacement for Durant at the 3 spot and Thunder would be able to build around a nice core of Adams, Hayward, Russell and Oladipo.
Why the Jazz would do it: This is a great trade for Utah Jazz. They give up Hayward, a free agent next year, for the No.2 pick in this year’s draft who many believe is a future superstar.
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Calderon is just a one-year rental who would help the team’s relatively thin backcourt which suffered numerous setbacks over the last few seasons, especially with Dante Exum’s injury woes.