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Let’s face it; the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t escaping the Russell Westbrook narrative anytime soon, unless they trade him, of course.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus has postulated a trade that would finally see Westbrook’s Lakers tenure come to an end while helping resolve the glaring need for perimeter shooting.
The proposed trade looks like this:
Lakers Get: Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley
Utah Jazz Get: Russell Westbrook, either one or both, of the 2027 or 2029 first-round draft picks.
“If Utah decides to focus on development, it could offer the Lakers Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley. The Lakers would be interested in Lauri Markkanen, Jarred Vanderbilt, or Kelly Olynyk, but Utah is more likely to offer aging veterans Mike Conley and Rudy Gay.
If the Lakers can get depth out of the Jazz for a single first, perhaps that’s a viable path. Unless some of Utah’s younger players can be had, the potential haul shouldn’t be worth multiple first-rounders,” Pincus wrote in his October 25 article.
Between them, Clarkson and Beasley are set to earn a combined $28.8 million this season, which means the Lakers and Jazz would need to get creative in order to ensure the salaries match up, and that Los Angeles has the room on their roster to inherit multiple players in a deal that only saw Westbrook and potential filler heading out of the door.
Lakers Turned Down Significant Assets During Off-Season
Throughout the summer, we all heard about discussions between the Lakers and Jazz, with the common consensus being that neither party could reach an agreement that they felt helped their team reach their short and long-term goals.
However, according to Tony Jones of The Atheltic, who was replying to a fan via Twitter, the Lakers did turn down one deal that they might now regret.
“Yes. Both picks for bogey/Conley/Gay, with a 23 first-rounder going back to the lakers,” Jones Tweeted.
For those unfamiliar with nicknames around the NBA, ‘bogey’ is short-hand for Bojan Bogdanovic, a sharpshooting wing who can create his own shot, score off the bounce, and excel as a catch-and-shoot threat.
Given the Lakers’ poor start to the season, where they have fallen to the bottom of the NBA’s three-point percentage charts, they may be kicking themselves for failing to get that star-studded deal over the line.
Nick Wright Blames Rob Pelinka
Considering Rob Pelinka is the man in charge of handling trade negotiations for the Lakers, it would be fair to assume that he’s entitled to some of the blame for the haphazard roster construction over the past two years.
However, it would seem the Lakers’ front office continues to have faith in their Vice President of Basketball Operations, having extended his current contract this past summer. However, Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright isn’t so easy to impress, and on an October 21 episode of First Things First, he laid the blame for the Lakers’ struggles directly at the feet of Pelinka.
“We know (Buddy Hield) and (Myles) Turner are available, we’re gonna wait and see if something better develops… That doesn’t justify, two straight post-seasons of building out a roster as if the three-point line didn’t exist. Which is what they’ve done. Last year, they went with old guys, ‘savvy veterans,’ this year’ young, athletic guys.’ Neither year did they get shooters. (Matt) Ryan, he might need to start,” Nick Wright said.
If the Lakers continue on their current path to demise, it will be interesting to see if Pelinka continues to cling to his job, and if he does, how he navigates rebuilding the Lakers roster on the fly so that they can have a chance to return to the post-season and potentially challenge for an NBA championship.
