The Los Angeles Lakers made their first big move of the NBA offseason, as they announced that Milwaukee Bucks assistant head coach, Darvin Ham, will be taking over as their head coach.
Ham performed well during his interviews and will hopefully inject some life into a Lakers franchise that needs some positive developments.
With a head coach now in place, the attention will turn to their roster. They need a lot of work there, as well, as they missed the playoffs this season, not even qualifying for the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The one move that people are expecting the team to make is trading point guard Russell Westbrook. Rob Pelinka took a risk acquiring him last year from the Washington Wizards, but the deal didn’t pan out as Westbrook never found his niche with the team.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: 3 Fresh Trade Ideas Involving Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook
Hitting the reset button on that deal and trading him would seemingly be best for both sides. However, according to Marc Stein on his Substack, the odds of Russell Westbrook remaining with the Los Angeles Lakers are going up.
“The Lakers are tuning out the skeptics yet again and insisting to anyone who will listen that they would rather keep Russell Westbrook on the roster for next season than surrender additional assets to convince someone to trade for him. The Lakers are also said to be adamant that they won’t release the former MVP and eat his $47.1 million player option for next season after Westbrook picks it up.”
Anyone that has been linked to Westbrook as a potential trade destination has reportedly been seeking draft compensation along with him. The Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick could do the trick to get a deal done, but that isn’t an avenue the team is willing to go down right now.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: 3 Fresh Trade Ideas Involving Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook
This could very well be some posturing from Los Angeles. They need to drum up interest to improve Westbrook’s tanked stock. Teams know they want and almost need to move on from him, so they will hold out for as many assets as possible to be included.
The longer Russell Westbrook is held onto, though, the more his stock will improve. As an expiring deal, he presents organizations around the league a chance to reset their salary cap, sending out long-term deals. But, in that scenario, it would be the Los Angeles Lakers likely acquiring draft compensation in the deal, not attaching it to Westbrook.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: 3 Fresh Trade Ideas Involving Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook
This will be a situation to keep an eye on in the coming weeks as there will be plenty more rumors about what could happen with the former MVP this offseason.