The Lakers appear willing to get creative to try to shed Russell Westbrook and his massive $47 million contract before the start of the season.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter, per Yahoo Sports that if the Jazz choose to trade superstar Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks or any other team, there is a “decent chance” the Lakers would be involved as a third team.
According to Stein, the hope for Los Angeles would be to get quality role players back as their 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks — the only ones the Lakers have under their control this decade — would be of interest to the pick-hungry Jazz. The Lakers, however, are only interested in trading those picks in a deal that would help make them a true NBA title contender after missing the postseason all together last season.
Having multiple teams involved would widen the talent pool they could pull from compared to a two-sided transaction. Stein offered up the hypothetical of Los Angles landing Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz and Evan Fournier from the Knicks and whether that would be enough to pry the picks from the Lakers.
The Knicks and Jazz, according to The Post’s Marc Berman are locked in a trade stalemate over the number of first-round picks that would be included in the potential package for Mitchell, while the Lakers traded for guard Patrick Beverley this past week. The deal signaled the possibility that Westbrook’s days in L.A. continuing to be numbered as the team has reportedly tried to deal him all offseason.