With only one day until the NBA Trade Deadline, time is ticking for the Los Angeles Lakers to make a move to upgrade their roster. Adding Hui Hachimura was a nice start, but if they are to ascend the standings and become legitimate contenders, more moves need to be made.
Making those moves, however, is easier said than done. Rob Pelinka is a big hamstrung when it comes to building a trade package given the team’s limited amount of assets. Matching salary is also very difficult outside of building a deal around Russell Westbrook’s enormous expiring contract.
That is something that the Lakers have been trying to do for months, going back to the offseason. Alas, any negotiations that the team had always come back to their first-round picks in 2027 and 2029.
There was hope that Westbrook would be able to rehab his value and the asking price would decrease. For what it is worth, Westbrook has held up his end of the deal in that regard. He has thrived as the team’s sixth man coming off the bench this season.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Russell Westbrook & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Alas, that hasn’t changed how franchises around the league view him. According to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register, teams are holding firm on the assets they want to be attached to Westbrook in a trade.
“But even if the Lakers determine the locker room chemistry can sustain the hits it took from the Irving trade drama, Russell Westbrook’s $47.1 million contract is its own issue. As SCNG previously reported, one of the reasons the Lakers decided to go into the 2022-23 season with Westbrook.
Goon explained further: “On the roster was to rehabilitate his trade value. But a rival front office executive told SCNG that Westbrook still requires significant draft compensation to be moved, likely at least one unprotected first-round pick and maybe more.”
There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to trade negotiations. When they fall through, it could really hurt a team’s morale. Especially when a player knows that the franchise is trying to trade them.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Russell Westbrook & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
As a veteran, this is something that Westbrook is likely used to as he has been traded three times in his career previously. But, that doesn’t make it any easier to hear your name pop up in trade rumors on a daily basis.
Pelinka and the front office will have to get back to the drawing board and figure out what their next course of action will be. They took a swing at landing Kyrie Irving but came up short as the Brooklyn Nets. Asked for the moon in return and instead traded him to the Dallas Mavericks. What is next for the purple and gold is anyone’s guess at this point.
