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Former UCLA Star May Have Cost Lakers Chance at Adding All-Star Talent

Matt Levine

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The UCLA Bruins basketball program has seen plenty of star talents come through before heading to the NBA. The Bruins have seen former players turn into All-Stars with one of the better ones in recent years being point guard Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook is a future Hall-of-Famer and has put together a very solid career for himself. He had a chance to come back to Los Angeles and play for the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago but things didn't work out well.

The decision for the Lakers to trade for Westbrook was a controversial one, considering the pairing of him and star LeBron James. Los Angeles also chose Westbrook over adding another All-Star-level talent during the 2021 offseason.

Former USC guard DeMar DeRozan revealed in an interview with "Underground Lounge with Lou Williams and Spank Horton" that the Lakers indeed did pick Westbrook over him. This was a move that many were surprised by, even DeRozan.

"It was almost a done deal before Russ went there. It caught me off guard cuz I didn't more so see the Russ thing happening. It was close"

There have been rumors about DeRozan coming back home for a long time and it almost happened in 2021. But the addition of Westbrook to the Lakers changed everything and saw L.A. miss out on adding an All-Star talent.

The trade for Westbrook set the Lakers back while a move for DeRozan could have placed them into title contention. DeRozan spoke in a separate interview about wanting to come home but that the Lakers made their decision to pass him up.

"Obviously I have my selfish reasons of wanting to be able to play at home, (but) sometimes it just doesn't work out that way," DeRozan relayed to Sam Amick of The Athletic. "And sometimes it probably isn't the best decision for me either. So after that didn't happen, I didn't dwell on it. I wasn't mad. They made their choice, and I just left it at that."

Since the move, Westbrook has left the Lakers and been part of two teams. He joined the cross-town Los Angeles Clippers for a short stint before joining the Denver Nuggets this offseason.

DeRozan has been with the Chicago Bulls and just joined the Sacramento Kings this summer. We won't ever know what could have happened if the Lakers had picked DeRozan over Westbrook but it's interesting to think about.

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Louisiana State University in 2021. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, covering all Southern California sports in his career.

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