The Lakers‘ acquisition of Patrick Beverley on Thursday makes it more likely that Russell Westbrook will be off the team’s roster by the start of the season, a source close to the situation tells Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
According to Buha, a trade involving Westbrook is one possibility. Another would see the Lakers take the approach the Rockets did with John Wall last season, sending him home while the team continues to explore the trade market.
In addition to making Westbrook more expendable by giving the Lakers another veteran point guard to insert into their rotation, the trade for Beverley unites two players who have had their share of issues in the past.
Westbrook suffered a major knee injury in 2013 when Beverley attempted to steal the ball from him as Westbrook was calling a timeout. The two guards have since shared some choice words for one another in press conferences and on social media, with Beverley calling Westbrook “trash” during a game this March.
It’s not out of the question the two guards could make peace, but Buha refers to their feud as one of the NBA’s “most rancid” beefs, suggesting Westbrook has never forgiven Beverley for his role in that ’13 injury. If that’s the case, it would be further incentive for the Lakers to move on from Westbrook before the season begins.
One NBA executive who spoke to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report believes there are three “obvious” trade partners for the Lakers in any Westbrook deal. The Pacers and Spurs have the cap flexibility to make a deal work, while the Jazz have the highly-paid veterans who would be required for salary-matching purposes.
All three of those teams are in retooling mode and could be motivated to trade a productive player or two for Westbrook if significant draft compensation is attached to him — the former MVP would be unlikely to actually suit up for any of those clubs if he’s traded.
Myles Turner and Buddy Hield are the most obvious Lakers targets in Indiana and have been the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason. Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson are among the Spurs players who could appeal to Los Angeles. And even after acquiring Beverley, the Lakers could have interest in other vets on Utah’s roster, including Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and/or Malik Beasley.
All of those teams would be seeking at least one first-round pick – and probably two – from the Lakers in order to give up useful players in exchange for Westbrook and his oversized ($47MM+) cap hit. L.A. only has its 2027 and 2029 first-rounders available to trade due to the Stepien rule.
Reports last month indicated that the Lakers weren’t willing to offer both of those picks to the Pacers for Turner and Hield, but perhaps they would become more inclined to meet Indiana’s asking price after acquiring Beverley without surrendering any draft compensation.
“the former MVP would be unlikely to actually suit up for any of those clubs if he’s traded”
If he won’t suit up for the only teams he gets traded to, who will he suit up for? Who wants him? Is he the next Carmelo, Iverson, etc?
Why would a team trade for his huge salary if they are just going to buy him out? Or are they going to pay him 47 million to sit at home and do nothing? When does this idiocy end?
He basically alr is the next AI/Melo in that he’s a historically great basketball player from the hood that’s extremely misunderstood & largely hated by white America esp now that his prime yrs are behind him… as for what teams would want him after he’s bought out. There would be many inter teams. Portland is an obv 1, Toronto, Sacramento, Brooklyn, Philly, Phoenix, NY, Dallas, Cleveland & more could all definitely use a guy like Russ. I’d LOVE to see him come to my Hawks. He’d obv be a huge upgrade over Aaron Holiday… as far as when your idiocy will end, I mean clearly that’s up to you. Paying attention & using common sense are easy ways to curtail idiocy. Article (as well as common sense) says that LAL would trade future 1sts along with Russ. The future 1sts, as well as the fact that his contract is expiring after this season, are why a team would trade for him & his large salary. Indy would be getting off Buddy’s future salary plus getting extra draft assets
please keep race out of your comment. Race has 0 to do with Westbrook. Nobody is calling him a thug or anything like that he just is in the twilight of his career.
Lol just bc you dw to think about it doesn’t mean it don’t exist dude we’re not ostriches or toddlers. Lol @ nobody is calling him a thug, umm yes they are, amongst many other things. Every athlete goes thru the twilight of their career, few if any get the hate that Russ does
I didn’t say race doesn’t exist that is you putting words in my mouth. I am saying there is nothing about race with Westbrook not being loved by NBA fans. So why bring up race when there is nothing to do with it.
Waaaaaait a minute… ARC2… Why did the word “Thug” come into your mind when thinking of race and an African-American player?
Prob bc that’s a common thing that Black athletes & Black males in general (especially Russ specifically) have been called. It was pretty widespread & common for the longest. Still is tbh. A guy like Russ is very intense & that makes them uncomfortable. They’d rather guys like Sean Elliott & Richard Jefferson that are less confrontational
that is my point his quote is “hated by white America”. I don’t see anyone calling him some thug from the hood. He is actually a businessman is my perception. So why make some claim people hate him because of race?
I don’t think Russ is hated at all. We just wonder why he is so aloof. I hope he does get a chance to prove himself with the Lakers. Beverly will make peace he is a winner. I hope Russ does get to play.
Lol if u don’t think Russ is hated then u must not follow basketball much. Definitely gotta be new to this site
@sankara. From all accounts Westbrook is a fine human being, takes care of his family and has never been in trouble. My dislike (hate is a strong world) mostly comes from him shooting a bank shot about as well as my 61 year old ass. I mean I have never seen a pro player hit the side and top of the backboard as much as Westbrook does. He is an overrated player that at this point of his career is worth the bet minimum
The reason you think you “dislike” this 1st ballot HOF, all-time great pg is bc he’s bad at basketball. Smh. For 1 second jus take a step back & look at what u just said. Lol I mean clearly there’s something else making you “dislike” him. Do you dislike Harden & LeBron bc they suck at basketball too?
@sankara
I agree with a lot of your opinions but this isn’t it.
1. Don’t bring race into it, that’s immature and is grasping at straws
2. Russell is a selfish player past his prime making almost $50mil a year, so obviously a lot of teams don’t want him. As a Mavs fan I disagree that we’d want him. What would we even give up for him, THJR, Davis and Josh Green? There’s no way in hell I’d even consider wanting that to happen and I know the mavs front office & cuban do NOT want that either. It makes no sense for us and for a lot of those teams. If you’re going to continue to not listen to any other opinions than your own (which is highly immature) I’m happy to provide you with more evidence and facts that Russell isn’t happily wanted and needed by every team, nor is he a max player anymore.
Lol dude trying to ignore race is far more immature & your hesitancy/fear of talking about it says a lot about who you are as a person & the type of things you believe in… smh ofc few if any teams want him at $47M but if/when he’s traded & bought out then majority of the league would want him for the minimum… as far as him being selfish I wonder how KD, Beal & Bron all put up league leading scoring #s if Russ is such a selfish teammate. How is he able to have a HOF career as a pg while being selfish? Perhaps you just don’t like him & are projecting bad qualities on him. Maybe that’s a possibility?
1. Race shouldn’t be brought up during every conversation. It absolutely should be brought up if it’s about racism in the NBA which is definitely an issue. However when talking about someone’s contract and skills, whatever race he is doesn’t matter, and you’re trying to play that card to shut other people with other opinions down, and that’s not gonna work with me. Please grow up and when talking about someone’s specific JOB and SKILLSET don’t bring race, gender or sexuality into it unless it pertains to discrimination.
2. If you actually watch him play from last season, he’s a ball hog and always has been. he’s a HOF because even tho he’s a ball hog he was great at one point, so it didn’t matter. but age combined with him not ACCEPTING HIS ROLE is leading to him taking stupid shots instead of being a team member
3. Maybe some would take him for the minimum but any team pushing for contention or a playoff run wouldn’t want him. He’s gonna come in and try to be the star player and no playoff team wants to have that drama queen on their team
4. Durant and Bron are FAR above Russ in talent, and Beal isnt even a top 30 player in the league.
You need to realize that I, along with everyone else that doesn’t have the exact same opinion as you is not simply “hating” just to “hate”. It’s an opinion on a player. Please chill out
Lol dude u say race shouldn’t be brought up in every discussion but what you very obviously mean by that is that race shouldn’t be brought up in any discussion. And it’s obv why you’d feel that way… lol @ hes a ballhog smh I guess that’s why he leads the league in assists (prob top3 at least) since he entered the league lol.. dude whether u realize what u are or not, thats still what u are
1. Can you give me any reasoning or evidence on how i’m “obviously” meaning that? Because it’s not true, and youre just being petty by thinking that
2. He didn’t even come close to leading in assists last season, but ok
3. You can’t decide what I am. There’s a difference between hating and disliking a player. I’m not being petty and “hating” him for no reason. I’m allowed to dislike a players play style, and I’m willing to provide facts and evidence.
Since you aren’t willing to listen to reason I’ll provide you with facts:
Russell Westbrook’s usage rate last season was near 30%. That’s way too high for all the shots he was taking and all the turnovers and terrible things he did.
Now LeBrons usage rate was also 30%. However LeBron had significantly better shooting splits, numbers and just smarter shots than Russell.
I’m more than happy to provide you with more facts if you’d like, however it doesn’t appear to me that you care about any sort of fact and more pure anger than not everyone is going to agree with you 100% of the time.
1. Bc u said race shouldn’t be brought up in every discussion, which it obviously isn’t. Race is brought up very rarely tbh, definitely only by me. And push back is fierce & immediate every time lol. It’s almost like yall are extremely defensive about it. It’s not that you dw talk about it all the time. That was never a possibility. You don’t ever wanna talk about it, which is exactly to be expected. Very few people are comfortable hearing about their faults… smh when did I ever say anything about him leading the league in asts last season lol?… obv I don’t get to decide what u are lol, if it was up to me youd be much different… love that your “facts and evidence” are only about him not being as good as LeBron lol
1. I’ve seen you bring up race many times and the reason that there is push back is because you bring it up when there’s no reason to. I also do talk about race a lot and have been to BLM rallies and am a strong supporter of it. However, it’s the same thing if I didn’t like an actor and you say its because the actor was black. It’s not relevant to the situation. I’m happy to talk about racism and discrimination but not when it’s brought up for no reason.
2. You don’t remember saying that he’s lead the league in assists every season since he’s joined the league?
3. My facts weren’t about LeBron, I just was thinking ahead of time in case you used the LeBron usage rate as a rebuttal. I was purely bringing up the usage rate which you are choosing to ignore.
4. Regarding your beal comment, I said he ISNT a too 30 player not that he WASNT ONCE a top 30 player.
5. @MB81 brought up an interesting point.
“Speaking exclusively about sports, and not the broader American culture here but the NBA is composed of 75% African American or “black” players. It would be pretty hard to enjoy the NBA if you were biased against a black athlete in the NBA”. Shoutout to him for that, it’s a good point. Please grow up and don’t play the race card everytime someone disagrees with you, it’s not relevant. At the end of the day we’re all people and I am criticizing him as a PERSON regardless of his race.
Obv I brought up race many times lol the white supremacist thinking on this site is rampant. Again it’s very unsurprising that ppl who think like yall wouldn’t wanna be called out on it. Lol I’m not even gonna comment on the BLM rallies you attended except to thank you for the hearty laugh u just provided… maybe you should re-read what I said about Russ leading the league (or at least top3) in assists since he came in the league. Take your time & read stuff twice bc you have a habit of misunderstanding pretty simple statements… you literally just compared Russ’ usage to Bron usage what are u talking about lol… Beal is very obv a top30 player smh I swear talking basketball is a waste of time smh was he top30 when he was leading the league in scoring playing alongside Russ? Bc that was literally 1yr ago… I alr answered that weird point lol its obv that the # of Black players in the league is a huge reason majority of the comments here are negative. Russ, KD, Bron, Harden, Simmons, Dwight, CPaul, Kyrie… I could go on for hours naming Black guys that get savagely hated on by white America. Contrast that to how hockey & golf players get talked about.
Obviously arguing with you is gonna go nowhere so I’m gonna be the bigger person and walk away. Just try to grow up and stop seeing everything in such a negative way and listen to other peoples opinions sometimes. It’s good for you, trust me.
Lol @ Beal isn’t a top30 player. Yet he led the league in scoring with Russ as his pg. How is that possible if Russ is a selfish basketball player?
never said he WASNT a top 30 player, but using him right now didn’t make sense. i did misunderstand when you brought him kd and bron up but what i thought you meant was giving examples of other talented ball hogs.
“Beal isnt even a top 30 player in the league”… u don’t remember saying that just minutes ago?
Brad Beal is one of the most OVERRATED players in the NBA!
Has he ever even been to the playoffs????
All Beal does is score on bad teams. Doesn’t make any of his teammates better. He gets stats. Plays no defense. Team gets destroyed every night.
Beal shot 30% from 3 pt last year. Ouch!!!
this is what u guys sound like lol
Speaking exclusively about sports, and not the broader American culture here but the NBA is composed of 75% African American or “black” players. It would be pretty hard to enjoy the NBA if you were biased against a black athlete in the NBA.
It’s very obv that majority of yall don’t enjoy the NBA lol. All yall do is hate. Hating on guys is the only part yall seem to enjoy
I certainly agree Westbrook gets hate, but I don’t think that’s exclusive to non black fans.
Not exclusive but I mean if you just allow yourself to open ur eyes just a bit it’s pretty easy to see the deal
Sank I have no clue what the Lakers did to many people on this board but I think a lot of the hate has to do with him being a Laker
The hate is with what he’s done lately. Not sure what is so damn difficult to understand about that. This clown insists Russ is hated because everyone in the media is racist. Its a joke and he has no credibility. I would rather read 9 Sillyman posts than another melt down from Stankara
Westbrook is NOT misunderstood. He is jerk! Nobody wants Westbrook right now for one simple reason ….. Nobody thinks Russell Westbrook can help them win games. In fact, bringing Westbrook into the mix could result in far less wins. That is why he is where he is. Charlotte is his best hope after getting bought out.
It does appear that you look for racial enemies even where they do not b exist. I understand your concern, but in the case of Westbrook it really is his declining value in todays game, even if he is a difficult personality. Wall has no such personality issues and he sat for almost 2 years.
@Sankara
Umm.. Black guy here. Why do you assume he grew up in “the hood”. Hawthorn is primarily a mixed middle income community. Race has nothing to do with the way he’s perceived by most. Durant and LBJ don’t seem to want to play with him. Doesn’t mean they hate him they just don’t want to play with him.
Btw, I haven’t played team ball since high school so clearly I’m no expert. However, is a Westbrook so dense that he can’t learn to play off the ball in a non point guard position and still go out and ball. I mean look at other high volume scores who can’t shoot but can give you 20-25 and still rebound and put effort in on defense (Butler, DeRozan). Stop shooting threes, drive to the hole, attack the basket and use your strength against smaller guards. Is he THAT stubborn that he can’t do anything if he’s not the point?
Ya all saying Durant and Bron do not want to want to play with him, last time I checked Russ went to the finals with Durant, then again to the Western Conference Finals with KD before he bolted. As for Bron, Russ did not ask for a trade to LA, LAs problem is AD, not Russ. Even after KD left He stayed at OKC, did not demand a trade in fact He’s never demanded a trade. Once traded he helps the team, I mean He took a very weak Washington team to the playoffs with the always injured Bradley Beal. Russ is declining, accelerated by his style of play. Leave this man alone, pleaeeeeeeese. He is also a good business man.
@Knicks
Just to clarify, I meant Durant and LBJ seem to NOT want to play with Westbrook. It doesn’t mean Westbrook is a bad guy but he seems to only know 1 way to play the game. Before the trade to LA, the threesome of Westbrook, AD and LBJ met to discuss how they might be able to work together. My feelings is that Westbrook wasn’t able to buy into it. He has heart but imo a very low basketball IQ. No one ever said he’s the sole reason why the Lakers have struggled but I do think he’s the main reason. Here’s just not a smart player and only knows 1 way to play.
I agree. Bringing in Beverly was so stupid. He is on a new team every season for a reason. Pacers are not going to trade for Westbrook. There was a chance Westbrook could have turned around his game this coming season under a new coach but Laker’s just insulted the hell out of Westbrook. Pelinka is the worst GM. Any other GM that had LeBron could build a winner but not him. Buddy Hield is not the answer either. Laker just got worse.
Smh Pelinka won a title with Bron, it wasn’t that long ago
If the Lakers trade those picks they can compete. Westbrook will play if bought out by SAS or Utah. Washington would take him back IMO.
Maybe, if he was available at vet min and would be a sixth man, spelling Beal and occasionally playing in tandem. He is going to have to accept, like Wall, Boogie, and Carmelo, that his contract is no longer a valid measure of his market value.
Whoever trades for Russ won’t be trading for his services – they’ll be trading primarily for future LA picks and secondarily for the future cap relief of Russ’s expiring contract.
Honestly, where Russ plays is more about Russ than anything else at this point. If he’s willing to be a 6th or 7th man then I don’t think it’s a lock he’ll get bought out, and if he does I think there are a handful of teams who would sign him and use him on their roster in that role.
But if he doesn’t feel like that’s a role he wants to play I’m not sure there are many if any teams that will want him a starter/franchise centerpiece anymore.
Nobody is interested in Westbrook as a 6ht or 7th man. That includes the Lakers!
They are trading for the contract, not the player.
Take the hornets. If the lakers trade Westbrook for Hayward and Rozier, the Hornets take a large contract this year for getting out of two large long contracts which frees up money sooner.
@peter I agree, but you have to keep in mind when trading for russ unless a big change happens he’s going to come in and try to be a star player, and if he doesn’t get that, will cause drama. a lot of teams want to stay away from that
Why are you feeding the troll? Ignore them and they go away
Is Sankara & brownsbacker9 the same person ? They both have losing arguments that they will fight to the death. Both stubborn blockheads
Funny all of a Sankara’s post have exactly 1 like. Either you have a secret admirer or your life is that sad that you need to like your own posts. I’m guessing it’s the latter
LMAO
If those picks are unprotected some teams gotta gamble.
Nobody wants Westbrook because he sucks and is paid way the heck too much!
That’s weird – I was thinking they got Pat Bev to pair with Russ as a dynamic duo in the backcourt
Really??? You gonna put Westbrook on the ball and let Pat Bev play off the ball???? Neither player can shoot. You gonna put Pat Bev on the ball and play Westbrook off the ball???? Neither player can shoot.
You into sarcasm at all?
@barry look at his username i think he’s gonna be clowning a lot brodie lmao
They wouldn’t work as backcourt mainly because they hate each other and they’re both most likely too intense and ego driven to put it aside but Bev can’t shoot? He’s a career .378 from deep. League average last year was around 35.4. He was below average last year but career performance leads that to being an outlier as he has shot .382 or better for the prior 6 seasons.
Nice numbers. But @VeryBarry had more exclamation points in his post so I’m going to assume he’s correct here.
Good luck on your quests to have a rational convo inside a Laker thread BHS69
Its just not doable in here, too much hate for reasons I’ll happily never know ;)
Always seek out your posts tho, very grounded no matter what team
Likewise my friend
Shame, any teams outside Lal Knicks GSW seem to be pretty even keel and well thought out by most posters. Id even say useful dialogue even if disagreement’s exist
Wish they’d have less Lakers posts as I actually think it makes it worse
Agreed – it seems like any NY/LA article has its fair share of inherent trolls posting the same BS on every article
I’ll jump in and say I usually like the posts from both of you. Try my best to be rational myself even with my bias. Good stuff guys.
2 words – Expiring Contract