The Los Angeles Lakers opted not to trade Russell Westbrook at the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline. Keyword: “opted.”
The Lakers could have sent the nine-time All-Star to the Houston Rockets in a deal centered on John Wall — perhaps without surrendering as steep of a cost in future draft capital (the 2027 first-round pick) as had been previously speculated.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cAwXlGAL4mGIhLUOXuBmB?si=628c895dcab445c6
According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the Los Angeles front office decided not to bail on the Westbrook experiment, just yet.
“The way I heard it was it could have been done for a first-round pick, but then it was even suggested they could have done it for a pick swap,” Shelburne said on the Hoop Collective podcast. “I don’t know the details of what that swap would be like or how that would even work. … Let’s put it this way: They would have had to incentivize Houston to do the trade with some kind of draft compensation. I think it was even less than what people have assumed.
But I think the Lakers are not ready to pull the ripcord on that Russell Westbrook experiment. I think they feel like, they … haven't done enough to say ‘This isn't going to work.' … I think they feel like they gave up so much to get him and he is a really talented player if used correctly. … I think they just feel like, you can't keep changing all the time, especially when it's just change for change's sake. That's kind of the phrasing I've heard, like: ‘Let's not just make a change just to make a change.' Let's make a change when we know it's going to make us a lot better.”
Shelburne communicated a similar sentiment on ESPN last week.
Ramona Shelburne brings up a fair point: LeBron (and AD) pushed the front office to deplete their resources to acquire Russ. It's not unreasonable for the Lakers FO to challenge them to figure it out, rather than trading a 21-year old and future 1st for a marginal upgrade.
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) February 10, 2022
LeBron James (and Anthony Davis) wanted Russell Westbrook. LeBron, 37, doesn't care about draft picks. However, it's entirely reasonable for the front office to hang onto their few future assets over upgrades that don't dramatically move the needle (and come with the optics hit of admitting defeat on the Russ trade). Herein lies the disconnect.
Either way, this is the team the Lakers are stuck with through the end of the season. It's up to the players and coaches to make it work.
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