Lakers Declined Russell Westbrook-John Wall Trade at Deadline Says NBA Insider
The NBA trade deadline came and went this past Thursday. The prospect of the Lakers shaking up their roster went with it. Plenty of reports have since surfaced of what few trade options the Lakers had with their limited assets. That included, confirmation that the much discussed Russell Westbrook for John Wall trade was still on the table for the LA.
It was previously reported that Houston wanted the Lakers 2027 first-round pick in exchange for taking on Westbrook's contract.
ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne reported on an episode of the Hoop Collective that was not the case at the deadline.
"The way I heard it was, it could've been done for a first round pick, but then, it was even suggested they could have done it for a pick swap. I don't know the details of what that swap would be like or how it would even work."
Previous iterations of a potential Westbrook-for-Wall trade hinged on the Lakers including the 2027 pick that GM Rob Pelinka and Senior Advisor Kurt Rambis were not willing to part with.
Apparently, Houston was still willing to acquire Westbrook for just a pick swap.
"Let's put it this way, they [LA] would have had to incentivize Houston to do the trade with some kind of draft compensation. I think it was even less than what people have assumed."
The fact that Pelinka didn't trade away Westbrook on Thursday is a bit surprising. Especially when considering the Lakers rhetoric after the Lakers soul-crushing losses to the Bucks and the Blazers on the eve of the NBA Trade Deadline.
LeBron James lamented that the Lakers weren't even on the same "level" as the Bucks. Frank Vogel stated that the Lakers were willing to "improve our team" after their disastrous loss to the Blazers.
LA trading away their third star that hasn't quite fit seemed like a potential fix, albeit a desperate one.
Evidently, the price of the fix might not have been as expensive as everyone thought.
