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The Los Angeles Lakers will try to trade Russell Westbrook this offseason and Harrison Faigen of SB Nation’s Silver Screen & Roll has a trade idea involving the Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets have been mentioned by league insiders as a franchise to watch with potential interest in trading for Westbrook, according to Marc Stein of Substack, and Faigen created a trade proposal involving the one-time MVP, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee and Kelly Oubre Jr.
The trade would send Westbrook to the Hornets and Rozier, Plumlee and Oubre Jr. to the Lakers.
“It is harder to construct a Lakers-Hornets deal involving Westbrook’s massive contract that does not include (Gordon) Hayward, but not impossible,” Faigen wrote. “One example of a trade that works financially is Westbrook for Rozier and the expiring contracts of Mason Plumlee and Kelly Oubre.
“Now, would the Hornets be so desperate to save money long-term by moving off Rozier’s that they’d do that deal? Would it require a pick from the Lakers to get multiple decent players for one very expensive, bad and ill-fitting one? I don’t know for sure. I only present it as an example of a deal that could work under the CBA, not one I think is necessarily guaranteed to happen in this exact form.”
Hornets small forward Gordon Hayward has been mentioned as a frequent centerpiece of many hypothetical Westbrook deals since he has a large contract. However, according to Stein, the Lakers are unlikely to consent to a trade headlined by the swingman.
Lakers Don’t Want Players with Large Injury Histories
The Lakers don’t want to acquire players with extensive injury histories in a Westbrook trade, per Stein. The purple and gold are likely to prioritize players with cleaner injury histories since superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been bitten by the injury bug the last two seasons.
“Yet it has since been conveyed to me that the Lakers have more boundaries than advertised when it comes to weighing Westbrook trades,” Stein reported. “One league source said that injury histories would be a prime consideration in any deal, given how injuries have so routinely intruded upon the last two seasons for both 37-year-old LeBron James and 29-year-old Anthony Davis.
“Translation: The Lakers are unlikely to consent to a Charlotte trade headlined by Gordon Hayward — not after Hayward’s first two seasons in Charlotte have likewise been injury-filled. The Lakers surely understand that they need to factor in durability if they are taking on long-term money, which suggests that Terry Rozier would have to be the Southern California-bound headliner if the Hornets and Lakers eventually progress to serious trade talks.”
Hayward has only played in 93 out of 154 games with the Hornets in two years. He signed a four-year, $120 million deal with Charlotte in the summer of 2020 and Faigen believes Hayward’s deal is “arguably worse than Westbrook’s.”
Hayward will make $30,075,000 next season and $31,500,000 in 2023-24, while Westbrook will earn $47,063,478 next campaign if he picks up his 2022-23 player option.
Trading Westbrook Will Be Difficult for Lakers
The Lakers are going to have a hard time trading Westbrook this summer, something Stein touched on during his latest Spotify Live session with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
“I think trading him (Westbrook) is going to be a lot harder than it sounds,” Stein said. “They’re obviously trying. The talk has already started. I’ve reported already two stories about Charlotte, which I keep hearing other teams regard Charlotte as a team to watch because it is pretty known that the Hornets are going to have to shed some salary. They’ve got to extend Miles Bridges. They might want to extend PJ Washington. They’re definitely going to want to extend LaMelo Ball when it’s his turn. There’s this thought that the Hornets have to get off long-term money.
“Now would Charlotte be willing to give up Terry Rozier? Terry Rozier has really played well. They’ve extended him. I think they’re happy with Terry Rozier, but again, Charlotte is a small-market team. They’re not just going to give everybody an extension. Somehow, someway, they’re going to have to move long-term money out. Let’s face it: Hayward only has two more years left. It’s not like he is under contract as long as Rozier. So will there be some dialogue on a trade headlined around Rozier and Westbrook? Again, I think Hornets fans are looking at this as, ‘Why on earth would we want Westbrook? We have LaMelo Ball.’ The Hornets wouldn’t be interested in this to give Russell Westbrook the ball. I don’t even know if they would keep Russell Westbrook or just try to buy him out.”
Westbrook is coming off a disappointing season with the Lakers, so teams around the league are likely scared to acquire him. Although the All-Star guard averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists, he shot only 29.8% from beyond the arc and committed 295 turnovers in 78 games.
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