Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
With the NBA’s trade deadline coming up on Thursday, there are plenty of rumors swirling about who could moved in the next few days.
One name who will find himself at the center of a few of those rumors in the coming days is Russell Westbrook.
He has been seen as a trade candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers since last year’s trade deadline and the speculation about him being traded intensified today.
When Kyrie Irving requested a trade yesterday, fans immediately began to wonder if he could be heading to LA.
Today, both Westbrook and Irving happen to be sitting out of their teams’ games.
However, it seems those two absences are completely unrelated as the Lakers are actually discussing a Westbrook trade with two other teams.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the Lakers have had trade talks with with the Charlotte Hornets and Utah Jazz.
The Lakers and Jazz stand as two teams interconnected with much of the NBA trade market’s possibilities, plus a quick breakdown of the centers being discussed around the league. Saturday trade deadline notes @YahooSports: https://t.co/XN2QkrYypx
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) February 4, 2023
Before the start of the NBA season, the Lakers sending Westbrook to the Jazz would have been seen as the Lakers dumping Westbrook’s salary off on a rebuilding team. Things have really changed since the start of the year.
Now the Jazz are fighting for a playoff spot after surprisingly working their way to .500 through the first 54 games of their season.
Westbrook could challenge Mike Conley for their starting point guard spot or give the Jazz some much-needed depth at the position and continue in the bench role he’s played for the Lakers this season.
If the Hornets made a move for Westbrook, it would be an attempt to pick up draft picks to build for the future in the midst of a lost season.
The Hornets made it to the play-in round last year, but they have the league’s 4th worst record this season.
The Lakers have played much better recently than they were early in the year, but still need to do something big if they want to compete with the best teams in the West this season. It looks like trading Westbrook is part of their plan to improve the roster.