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Russell Westbrook picked up his $47.1 million player option with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he can still be traded this summer.
One trade the Lakers could make under CBA rules involves the New York Knicks. The proposed trade would send Westbrook to New York for Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier, Cam Reddish and Quentin Grimes.
Westbrook, a California native, started 78 games for the Lakers in 2021-22. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4% from the floor, 29.8% from beyond the arc and 66.7% from the free-throw line.
The 2016-17 MVP, Westbrook was second in the league in turnovers and his effective field goal percentage of 47.6% was sixth-worst in the NBA, making him a poor fit next to Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Rose, Fournier, Reddish, Grimes Would Mesh Well with James & Davis
Rose, Fournier, Reddish and Grimes project to mesh well with James and Davis since all four players can stretch the floor. Rose, the 2010-11 MVP, shot 40.2% from beyond the arc in 2021-22. Meanwhile, Fournier shot 38.9%, Reddish shot 35.9% and Grimes shot 38.1%.
Rose isn’t the triple-double threat Westbrook is. However, he’s a much better shooter and decision-maker with the ball in his hands. Since the 2018-19 season, Rose is shooting 36.2% from beyond the arc and averaging just 1.8 turnovers. During that same span, Westbrook is shooting 29.2% from deep and averaging 4.3 turnovers.
One NBA executive who spoke to Heavy’s Sean Deveney in February believes that James wants to play with Rose next season. The two All-Stars were seen talking to each other on February 5 at Crypto.com Arena. It’s also worth mentioning that an executive told Ric Bucher of Fox Sports in November that Rose has aged better than Westbrook and learned how to dominate games without using his athleticism.
“Derrick is aging better,” the executive told Bucher. “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.”
This Trade Probably Won’t Happen
While a Westbrook trade hasn’t been ruled out, the Lakers are currently planning on beginning next season with the nine-time All-Star on their roster, according to a June 28 report from Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
The Lakers have been unable to find a team willing to take on Westbrook’s contract without attaching at least one future first-round pick. Westbrook was at Darvin Ham’s introductory press conference on June 6 and Ham said he was looking forward to working with Russ.
“Don’t get it messed up. Russell Westbrook is one of the best players our league has ever seen and there’s still a ton left in the tank,” Ham said. “I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off. Russ and I had some really, really great one-on-one convos, man, and the biggest word I think that came out of that, those discussions, was sacrifice. I’m going to expect him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he’s been all his entire career. A lot of that now may have him without the ball in his hand. Most of it now may have it on the defensive end. But again, we have to sacrifice. There’s no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing, instead of one-on-one.”
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