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LeBron James was excited when the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards.
LeBron, a four-time MVP who is close friends with the NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles, felt confident about the Lakers returning to the promised land with him, Westbrook and Anthony Davis leading the way.
“Right away, he ups our pace right away,” LeBron told Dave McMenamin of ESPN in September 2021. “He’s always in the top five as far as pace, whatever team that he is with. So being able to get out and being able to get out on the break and be able to try to get some early buckets before the defense is set — that creates that.”
LeBron and Davis urged Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka to trade for Westbrook, who was born and raised in California. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Brodie has struggled in his first season back home.
Westbrook led the NBA in turnovers during the first half of the season and had a plus-minus of -116, according to Statmuse. The Lakers tried to trade the UCLA product at the trade deadline, but Pelinka couldn’t find a deal that made sense.
Los Angeles could put Westbrook on the trade market again in the offseason. It could be easier to trade him since he only has one year left on his contract after the 2021-22 season, and one NBA executive who spoke to Heavy’s Sean Deveney believes LeBron will have his eyes on another former MVP.
NBA Executive: LeBron ‘Wants to Play With Derrick Rose’
The NBA executive who spoke to Deveney thinks LeBron “wants to play with Derrick Rose.”
Rose, who currently plays for the New York Knicks, was teammates with the King on the Cleveland Cavaliers for 16 games in 2017-18 before getting traded at the 2018 trade deadline. The Chicago native suffered a sprained left ankle in the second game of his season with the Cavs after getting taken out of the air by Milwaukee Bucks big man Greg Monroe and missed four consecutive games.
Rose played in five straight games after missing four in a row, but he was still in a lot of pain and took a personal leave of absence to assess his NBA future. The Memphis product, who became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011 with his hometown Chicago Bulls, missed 32 straight games.
Rose and LeBron played in nine more games together before the former was traded to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz waived Rose since they thought he was damaged goods and the three-time All-Star was an unrestricted free agent for about a month before the Minnesota Timberwolves signed him in March 2018.
Rose rejuvenated his career with the Timberwolves, averaging 14.2 points and 2.6 assists in the 2018 playoffs and 18.0 points and 4.3 assists during the 2018-19 season. On Halloween in 2018, Rose scored a career-high 50 points against the Jazz and cried during his postgame interview since he had been through a lot since winning MVP.
LeBron, who was in his first season with the Lakers in 2018-19, called Rose a “superhero” following the 50-point game.
“I think every kid that — you don’t have to play sports — any kid that’s going through anything in life about adversity and triumph and trying to just get over the hump, you can look at that performance by Derrick Rose tonight,” LeBron said. “And that’s why our game is so unbelievable because even when a superhero is knocked down, he’s still a superhero at the end of the day and Derrick Rose showed why he’s still a superhero.”
Rose signed with the Detroit Pistons in the summer of 2019 and averaged 18.1 points and 5.6 assists in 2019-20. The Lakers tried to trade for the Bulls legend at the 2020 trade deadline, but Los Angeles and Detroit couldn’t agree on a deal.
After Rose requested a trade, the Pistons traded him to the Knicks on February 8, 2021. The 2008-09 Rookie of the Year helped New York secure the fourth-best record in the East in 2020-21 and averaged 19.4 points and 5.0 assists in the 2021 playoffs.
Rose has only appeared in 26 games this season. He underwent right ankle surgery on December 22, 2021. The one-time MVP had surgery that “removed a bone spur from his deltoid ligament,” the New York Post reported.
Rose said he “felt relief right away after the surgery.” He was expected to be out at least eight weeks, until mid-February. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on February 16 that “there’s confidence [Rose will] be ready to face the Miami Heat on Feb. 25.”
What’s interesting is that Rose, who has a house in Los Angeles, was seen talking to LeBron at Crypto.com Arena on February 5. If LeBron is interested in playing with Rose again, the Lakers and Knicks could discuss the following trade in the offseason.
Westbrook for Rose, Burks, Barrett & Noel Works
According to ESPN’s trade machine, the Lakers could trade Westbrook to the Knicks for Rose, Alec Burks, RJ Barrett and Nerlens Noel.
Rose had a plus-minus of +92 before undergoing his right ankle surgery while averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, per Statmuse.
According to an NBA executive who spoke to Ric Bucher of Fox Sports in November 2021, Rose has aged better than Westbrook and learned how to dominate games without using his athleticism.
“Derrick is aging better,” the executive said. “He learned to shoot better, and his basketball IQ is higher. But Derrick was always a point guard. Russell was an athlete who played the position.”
Rose is a better shooter and decision-maker than Westbrook. The former was shooting 40.2% from beyond the arc this season before getting surgery, while the latter is shooting 29.9%. Rose is also smarter with the ball in his hands and isn’t a turnover machine like Westbrook, so it will be fascinating to see if LeBron tries to convince Pelinka to acquire his former teammate this summer.
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