Coming into the 2022-23 NBA season, only one thing seemed to be guaranteed for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Somehow, someway – the front office would get rid of Russell Westbrook.
Well 32 games into the year, it appears as though circumstances have changed. Between the team getting off to an awful start and Anthony Davis’ most recent injury, the Lakers are no longer in a hurry to dump Westbrook.
NBA insider Jovan Buha said this much recently.
Spoke to @jovanbuha yesterday about a bunch yesterday but this stood out:
“Based on my understanding, I think a Russ trade is probably off the table at this point…”
Full ep: https://t.co/v8VB4gyh5J pic.twitter.com/yqYfCnf7DX
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) December 22, 2022
“From my understanding, I think a Russ trade is probably off the table at this point,” Buha said.
“I think the one exception would be – in most scenarios, they would have to attach two picks. I think at this point, the only way they would do that, trade him, would be one pick or no picks and at this point that’s just not out there.”
That falls roughly in line with the signals the Lakers have been sending as of late.
They have been mentioned as one of five teams interested in a Terry Rozier trade, a potential Eric Gordon suitor and have been linked in various capacities to Kyle Kuzma.
The photos speak for themselves. https://t.co/YZgYUOXaeE
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 25, 2022
The one common denominator in all those scenarios, however, is that Westbrook either wouldn’t be a prominent part of the deal or wouldn’t be included at all.
That is quite the difference from where everyone started this season, when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would be gone ASAP.
Obviously the NBA season is a long one and anything can happen, but at the moment it looks like Westbrook is staying in L.A. barring something crazy occurring.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
