Lakers

NBA Trade Rumors: As a surprise to no one, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to restart Russell Westbrook trade talks soon.

But that’s always been the case for the Lakers since Russ decided to opt into the final year of his contract. And according to a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the expectation is that the Lakers will restart trade talks for Russ soon. Nevertheless, it appears that the Lakers will try to make things work with Russ.

Friday was a newsworthy day surrounding Russell Westbrook. He came off the bench rather than starting the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason loss to the ...

But it seems like the Lakers may want to deal him and go in a different direction with their lineup. It's hard to imagine that Westbrook will struggle as much as he did last season. It could also help if Westbrook comes off the bench, as that may be a better fit for him given the Lakers' current roster construction. When it was announced he wouldn't be in the starting lineup for Friday's exhibition contest, head coach Darvin Ham called it "not a demotion" but "a realignment," according to Because of that, it may be best for Los Angeles to just move fast if it's set on parting ways with Westbrook. He came off the bench rather than starting the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings.

After your Los Angeles Lakers almost traded $47.1 million point guard Russell Westbrook for Indiana Pacers vets Myles Turner and Buddy Hield ahead of the ...

It's also quite possible that the draft equity asking amount could decline as teams get increasingly more desperate to worsen their own on-court output. Should that happen this season, Los Angeles may be able to make a splashier, more favorable trade than was possible prior to this Wembanyama development “The Lakers at some point here will start engaging teams again on possible Russell Westbrook trades.

The Los Angeles Lakers' latest decision with Russell Westbrook may make a trade to the Indiana Pacers more imminent than before.

This is where the Indiana Pacers come in, as they have been the only club so far to show a degree of tolerance to any Westbrook trade— Newly installed head coach Darvin Ham has shown an inclination to try and piece together an obviously ill-fitting LA Lakers squad, a stance shared by the team’s management in hopes of opening more finance and asset leeway for the long-term. Following a tedious and admittedly exhausting barrage of news on that front, both teams seemed content to at least begin the 2022-23 season with what they have on the table.