The Los Angeles Lakers have had internal discussions on a trade that would send Russell Westbrook and two future first-round picks to Chicago for DeMar DeRozan and Nikola vucevic now DeMar DeRozan would be an absolute Difference Maker for this Lakers team.
I think the Vucevic could also bring quite a bit but looking at this trade you would be giving up both future first round picks and the Los Angeles Lakers have been playing really well as of late I do think that this move could actually make them even better.
I mean the way they’ve been playing lately if they could add some additional depth that would be absolutely huge maybe trading guys like Kendrick Nunn and Patrick Beverly along with trading Russell Westbrook could really be a way to bolster up this roster add a ton of quality role players and really move into that next level as a team and looking at the Chicago Bulls.
Maybe there’s a chance they tear down their roster around the trade deadline things aren’t going that well and you have to remember that they did give up their future first round pick to the Orlando Magic when they added Nicola vucevic that first round pick is top four protected so if it lands in the lottery anywhere from 5 through 14 the Bulls don’t get that pick.
So maybe they decide you know what let’s just go ahead and tear this roster down let’s tank because I feel like the Bulls are in a bad position with all the injuries with guys like DeRozan and Vucevic getting older it could be tough for them to try and really put this roster together to the level where they could compete so going into a mini rebuild I’m not even saying doing a huge rebuild that lasts years.
But trading away some of these veteran guys getting future picks getting a guy like Russell Westbrook would allow you to have cap space in the 2023 off season he’s an expiring contract so things like that are definitely something you’d have to consider and also looking at the Lakers recent roster moves they have 14 roster spots that are currently filled.
So what that means is if they were to do a trade like this where they add in two players while trading away Russell Westbrook they’d have room on their Ross faster to take on those guys and just looking at the way the Lakers are playing I feel like it would be a shame if they didn’t make some type of move I’m not even saying it has to be a big Russell Westbrook trade but looking at guys like Patrick Beverly and Kendrick Nunn who have struggled this season and could be guys who could trade to try and find some additional depth on the wing.
Especially if the Lakers are trying to be a serious competitive playoff team they need quality wings for the playoffs guys who can shoot guys who can defend and if you could find guys like that look at San Antonio they have Josh Richardson and I believe they’ve lost 10 games in a row now.
So it’s clear that they’re trying the tank if you could get a guy like Josh Richardson who could shoot and defend for you that would be absolutely huge ad is playing on another level he’s embraced being the number one option LeBron’s been playing better as of late Russ has been playing well in his bench role there’s a lot of going for this Lakers team as they’ve gone 7-2 over the last nine games.