One would think that the old axion that "beggars can't be choosers" would apply to any team trading Russell Westbrook at this stage of his career, but after getting dealt three times in the past three offseasons, the Los Angeles Lakers apparently feel comfortable being picky as they figure out what to do with their enigmatic point guard. The declining star on a $47 million contract for next season is not exactly coveted league-wide, but according to Marc Stein, the Lakers are not going to make just any trade.
One factor, Stein reports, is health. The Lakers do not want to take on players with questionable injury histories. Considering the injuries LeBron James and Anthony Davis have dealt with in recent years, they would like any players they add in such a deal to be a bit more reliable. That was the logic that partially led to the Westbrook trade. In theory, his durability raised the Lakers' floor when one of the stars had to sit out. That's not how it worked in practice.
As Stein notes, this applies to one possible trade suitor in particular: the Charlotte Hornets. They have two hefty contracts on their books that might work as centerpieces of a Westbrook trade in Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier. In the past five seasons, Rozier has missed just 19 total games. Hayward topped that twice over this season alone, and has obviously missed significantly more time over that extended period. For that reason, Stein reports that the Lakers would prefer Rozier as the centerpiece of a Hornets trade over Hayward.
While Stein doesn't report this explicitly, it's worth noting that these concerns could seep into negotiations with another possible suitor: the Indiana Pacers. One of the players rumored as a possible Lakers target would be Malcolm Brogdon, who played just 36 games this season and has routinely missed significant time throughout his career. If the Lakers are afraid to trade for players with injury histories, it stands to reason that Brogdon would scare them as well.
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The Lakers could, in theory, absorb both Hayward and Rozier in a Hornets trade. The two combine to make roughly $52 million, so they fit neatly within the 125 percent salary rule that governs trades of this magnitude. In fact, the Lakers could balance the deal almost completely by including Kendrick Nunn. Of course, doing so would add a substantial amount of long-term salary to the books. Westbrook and Nunn are both expiring. Hayward is owed $31.5 million in the 2022-23 season. Rozier is playing under a long-term extension that hasn't even kicked in yet. He will make roughly $74 million in the years after Westbrook's deal expires. The same holds true in a Pacers trade, though, as Brogdon and Buddy Hield (the other likely Lakers target) both have deals that are longer than Westbrook's.
The Lakers went 11-10 in games with Westbrook, James and Davis this season. As we've seen, health means little if the players on the court don't actually work together. That makes a Westbrook trade especially tricky for the Lakers. They need to find players who they can trust to stay on the floor, but they also need players who can actually help them when they're there. Fitting alongside James and Davis is not easy, and being able to scale up or down depending on whether or not they are in the lineup is a skill Westbrook never learned. Ultimately, the Lakers might not be able to get everything they want out of a possible Westbrook deal. They are going to need to compromise, and if that means adding injury risks? Then so be it.
"trade" - Google News
April 18, 2022 at 08:40PM
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Russell Westbrook trade rumors: Lakers wary of injury-prone targets, prefer Terry Rozier to Gordon Hayward - CBS Sports
"trade" - Google News
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