3 Potential Options for Russell Westbrook

With the NBA trade market heating up, all eyes have been on the Los Angeles Lakers and All-Star Russell Westbrook. After such a tough season, there are only a few potential options for Russell Westbrook going forward.

Many have already begun to speculate that a deal with the Nets could send Westbrook to New York in exchange for Kyrie Irving. This trade would reunite LeBron James with his former teammate Irving. The rumored deal quickly died down after it was speculated that the Lakers would not include both of their future first-round draft picks.

With the NBA preseason starting in just a month, the Lakers only have a few possible options for Westbrook. First, they could let Patrick Beverly be the starting point guard. With Westbrook coming off the bench. Option two is sending him home and paying out the rest of his contract. Much like the Houston Rockets did with John Wall last season. Or, the most likely option is that they would continue to look for trade options. Here are the three best potential trade options for Russell Westbrook and the Lakers.

Indiana Pacers 

The most likely of the three trade options come from the Indiana Pacers, who are in the middle of a rebuild. The team is currently led by Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. Both could be great young additions to this older Lakers team. The Pacers could use the veteran presence of Russell Westbrook. But they would also like at least one first-round draft pick to make up for Westbrook’s $47 million contract.

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz do not have many young players to offer the Lakers, but they do have veteran players like Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson or Bojan Bogdanovic. Like the Pacers, the Jazz will expect first-round players as repayment for taking on such a large contract. The Jazz have already secured four of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ first-round picks through trades. If the Lakers and Westbrook think this is a real option, then they will need to consider adding their first-round picks.

San Antonio Spurs

Possibly the least likely trade option is the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio had a decent season last year, but traded their young star Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks this summer. This has left them with an odd mix of veterans and young players. The most likely trade package would be center Jakob Poelti, small forward Doug McDermott and shooting guard Josh Richardson. While this is not the best return for the Lakers, it would open up a lot of salary space.

With the season quickly approaching, the Lakers and Westbrook need to weigh their potential options very carefully. They are going to need to move quickly and be ready to part with their draft picks. Otherwise, they will be stuck with only one option, paying a group of players in the last half of their careers millions of dollars.

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