Rumor: Lakers to Wait 20 Games Before Trades; Should Mavs Consider Westbrook?
As rough as the Los Angeles Lakers looked in their opening-night loss to the Golden State Warriors, a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says GM Rob Pelinka isn’t going to panic just yet.
”I’m told to expect Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to wait until post-Thanksgiving, 20 games into the season and see what teams may start pivoting, who don’t start off well who decide that they may start to unload players and perhaps get involved in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes to get down in the lottery,” said Woj.
Russell Westbrook has been in trade rumors for a while now, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon if the Lakers can’t perform at a higher level on a more consistent basis. Before completely bottoming out, LA might want to try to trade Westbrook for some veteran players who can shoot 3s in order to help its spacing.
Enter the Dallas Mavericks … maybe? Stop booing for a second and hear us out…
Although the Mavs are still capable of winning a lot of games without Jalen Brunson, Wednesday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns showed how much they could benefit from having a true third ballhandler on the roster. Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie can only do so much, and if one gets in foul trouble like Dinwiddie did against the Suns, it creates a real problem.
Dallas recently signed Facu Campazzo to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, but maybe they should sniff around the Westbrook situation just to see how desperate the Lakers might be to shake things up for the sake of shaking things up.
If Dallas could find a way to trade Tim Hardaway Jr., Davis Bertans and Dwight Powell to the Lakers for Westbrook — and perhaps some LA draft compensation as well — it could potentially help out both teams in the short-term. Even if Westbrook didn’t pan out for the Mavs, they’d still be getting off Hardaway and Bertans’ long-term money and opening up an opportunity for 20-year-old rookie Jaden Hardy.
What this all boils down to is the Lakers figuring out what will make LeBron James happy. This is his 20th season, and the clock is ticking louder than ever … and Mavs GM Nico Harrison needs to keep an open mind with any opportunities that might arise out of LA.
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