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According to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein — and as has been speculated for the past few weeks — one potential pathway for the Los Angeles Lakers to rid themselves of Russell Westbrook and his $47 million expiring contract could be to help facilitate a Donovan Mitchell blockbuster between the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks.
Here's what Stein wrote in his latest Substack, which was full of Lakers-related intel:
“If the Knicks manage to win the trade race for Utah's Donovan Mitchell, or even if another team unexpectedly beats them to Mitchell, league sources say there's a decent chance that the Lakers will be involved in the deal. The two future first-round picks that the Lakers possess in 2027 and 2029 are the kind of top-shelf draft picks that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is believed to covet. Russell Westbrook's $47 million expiring contract and those picks could be the Lakers' entree to a potential three-team swap … depending on the players that would land in Los Angeles.
The Lakers, I'm told, continue to hold firm on their position that they will agree to surrender both of their future firsts in the same deal only if the trade makes them a certified contender. Does a three-teamer that routes, say, Utah's Bojan Bogdanović and New York's Evan Fournier to the Lakers rise to that level?”
The Lakers and Jazz have clearly been in dialogue, as evidenced by their trade earlier this week that sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to Utah for Patrick Beverley. All summer, the Lakers have remained steadfast in their stance not to include both of their tradable first-rounders, but are now under more pressure to make a move since LeBron James signed his two-year extension. LeBron and the Lakers were in favor of a Kyrie Irving deal, but that seems off the table, for now.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2IGnBKIS4qqxcc2NApVLgG?si=1195126cf7cd4701
The Lakers may not be able to get a star back in the Utah/New York deal — they'd come closer to doing so by trading Russ and two firsts to the Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield — but their involvement could at least net the Lakers some depth, as both the Jazz (Bogdanovic, Mike Conley Jr., Malik Beasley) and Knicks (Fournier, Cam Reddish) possess role players whom they are looking to deal.
Beyond trading Russ, the Lakers still need to get bigger on the wing and improve their spacing/shooting.
