The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz were heavily linked in trade rumors during the offseason, with the discussions centered around Russell Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 picks. At some point, LA was even viewed as the potential missing piece to complete the trade that would have sent Donovan Mitchell to the New York Knicks.
Obviously that didn't happen and the Jazz eventually traded Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They also moved their other key pieces, including sending Bojan Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons.
Apparently, however, the Lakers had some interesting trade offer from the Jazz that they refused before the team moved on to other deals. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Salt Lake City franchise were willing to give Mike Conley, Rudy Gay and Bogdanovic along with a 2023 first-rounder in exchange for their two powerful picks packaged around Westbrook.
The Lakers didn't pull the trigger on the deal since they didn't want to part ways with both of their 2027 and 2029 picks, a stance that has basically held back all their trade prospects for Westbrook.
As everyone knows, the Lakers have since opted to stick with Russell Westbrook and see whether they can still make it work with him playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis–as well as under a new coach in Darvin Ham.
The first game of the season was a big fail for the Lakers, with the Golden State Warriors obliterating them on the way to a 123-109 win. It remains to be seen if LA can really get something going, but the early signs haven't been so positive.
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