The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz and acquiring D'Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster three-team trade. Unsurprisingly after reports about the deal surfaced, LA's title odds also increased.

Los Angeles was at +5000 to win the NBA Finals before the reported trade. As soon as it was revealed that the Lakers are finalizing the deal to send Westbrook and a first-round pick to the Jazz and get Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in return, their Finals odds increased to +3200, per FanDuel.

For what it's worth, the Lakers now have a better chance to get to the NBA Finals and win than the Miami Heat, who are at +4000.

Sure enough, the Purple and Gold got a significant return in their trade for Westbrook, and they didn't have to give their two first-round picks. The team is sending only their 2027 first-round pick to the Jazz as part of the deal.

It remains to be seen how the trade will impact the Lakers' performance on the court. While the odds suggest that they are trending in a positive direction, everyone knows that reality can be different. The trade looks good on paper, but we'll never know how it'll pan out until the players actually suit up together.

The Lakers are currently 25-30 on the season, two games behind the 10th seed that would put them in Play-In position. With that said, LeBron James and his new teammates in D'Angelo Russell Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt have plenty of work to do to get LA back up.