Championship Contender Considered Landing Spot for Russell Westbrook: Report

Getty Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook

If the Los Angeles Lakers trade Russell Westbrook to a team that cuts the one-time MVP, NBA executives and scouts believe a championship contender could sign the veteran guard.

According to a September 7th report from Ric Bucher of Fox Sports, the Miami Heat are considered a landing spot for Westbrook if the nine-time All-Star becomes an unrestricted free agent.

“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.”

Westbrook picked up his $47.1 million player option for next season. The Lakers “have made it readily known Westbrook is available for trade,” per Bucher. The UCLA product was second in the NBA in turnovers last season and had the sixth-worst effective field goal percentage.

Jazz Could Take Westbrook’s Contract if Lakers Throw in Draft Picks

The Utah Jazz, who traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, are in rebuild mode. According to Bucher, Utah might be willing to take on Westbrook’s contract if Los Angeles throws in a first round pick or two.

A Western Conference executive who spoke to Heavy’s Sean Deveney believes the Lakers’ future draft picks are excessively powerful. The exec proposed two trades Los Angeles could make with Utah involving Westbrook and draft picks.

“The two Lakers picks are the most powerful thing as far as picks go in the league right now,” the exec told Deveney. “Everyone expects them to be top picks, and if you can get them unprotected, everybody wants those. The Lakers only want to give up one and now you have to be thinking, if you’re the Lakers, OK, (Malik) Beasley, (Bojan) Bogdanovic and Jarred Vanderbilt for one of these picks and Russ? Or, you know, (Jordan) Clarkson or (Mike) Conley in there? You’re going to want three of those five players, give up Westbrook and only deal off one of the picks. Danny (Ainge) might get more picks if he sells those off individually but he is not going to get better picks, and that is the thing the Lakers have as an advantage.”

According to a September 2nd report from Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports, the Lakers “have some interest” in Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson. All three players could fit well in Los Angeles since Conley, Bogdanovic and Clarkson can shoot from the perimeter.

Clarkson hit 190 3-pointers in 2021-22, Bogdanovic sank 181 and Conley made 169. Meanwhile, Westbrook drilled only 79.

Should Lakers Bench Westbrook if They Can’t Trade Him?

If the Lakers can’t trade Westbrook, rival executives and scouts who spoke to Bucher believe Darvin Ham should bring the future Hall of Famer off the bench next season. Westbrook hasn’t come off the bench in an NBA game since November 28th, 2008, a month into his rookie season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

A two-time scoring champion, Westbrook started 78 games for the Lakers last season. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field, 29.8% from beyond the arc and 66.7% from the free-throw line. The Lakers went 31-47 in Westbrook’s 78 appearances and missed the playoffs.