Lakers Rumors: Why L.A.'s Possible Bulls Deal May Be Dead In The Water

Per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, at least one of the Los Angeles Lakers' preferred destinations for the expiring $47.1 million contract of L.A. sixth man Russell Westbrook could already be off the board.

The Chicago Bulls are a middling 11-14 on the 2022-23 season, just one game better than L.A., despite having acquired several solid veterans in recent years. It had been suggested recently that the Lakers front office had discussed the possibility of a deal that would send All-Star Bulls small forward DeMar DeRozan and former two-time All-Star Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to Los Angeles, in exchange for Russell Westbrook and probably both of the Lakers' tradable first-round draft picks, in 2027 and 2029.

Sources inform Cowley that there is "no interest" on the part of top Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas to add Westbrook and effectively begin a roster teardown, despite the two highly-coveted picks that would be headed his way in such a transaction.

Chicago is hoping to get long-injured starting point guard Lonzo Ball back healthy at some point this season (he hasn't played since January after undergoing multiple surgeries for a left knee injury). The Chino Hills native and UCLA product, as you no doubt will recall, was drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick ahead of Jayson Tatum in 2017.

Cowley indicates that Karnisovas has exhibited a willingness to make splashy deals in the pass (after all, he acquired Ball and DeRozan in sign-and-trades, and traded two lightly protected first-round picks to add Vucevic), and conceded that it's at least possible Karnisovas and GM Marc Eversley change their stance come the February 9th trade deadline.

DeRozan is a terrific scorer and ball handler, but has never been much of a three-point shooter. This season, he is connecting on just 31.4% of his 1.4 long range takes. Still, he remains a spectacular player on a bargain of a contract and would represent a big upgrade of Westbrook.

Vucevic is a mediocre three-point shooter, so in that respect he could help space the floor and clear driving lanes for stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but due to his inability to guard non-centers (he also isn't that great defending centers, honestly), Vucevic's addition would force Davis back to a power forward role. AD's early season revival happened in part because he was moved to center, so there is some risk in shifting him back at this point.