The Los Angeles Lakers may not seriously pursue any trades involving Russell Westbrook for at least a few more weeks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any ideas or that they aren’t kicking the tires on any potential deals.
One possible trade partner that has been discussed for months is the Charlotte Hornets, whose general manager is Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers’ former executive.
According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, L.A. is interested in a package that would include guard Terry Rozier.
Via Marc Stein Substack:
“The Lakers’ interest in Charlotte’s Terry Rozier as a potential headliner in a Russell Westbrook trade is not new,” wrote Stein. “You’ll recall that this Substack has been writing since April about L.A.’s fondness for the former [Boston] Celtic in potential Westbrook-centric trade discussions with Charlotte.”
Rozier is a very skilled player who would give the Lakers another legitimate scoring threat, as well as another secondary ball-handler. The combination of both skill sets could help reduce an aging LeBron James’ workload, especially during the regular season.
He is currently out with an ankle injury, but he put up 23.5 points and 8.5 assists per game in his first two contests this season. Last year he averaged 19.3 points and 4.5 assists a game while shooting 37.4 percent from 3-point range.
The issue is that the Lakers already have plenty of guards, particularly small guards, and that Rozier’s skill sets may be redundant, given that Kendrick Nunn and Dennis Schroder are also capable ball-handling guards who are legitimate scoring threats.
The main hold up for the Lakers in a potential deal with Charlotte
As far as the Lakers are concerned, Stein says that the one thing giving them pause is the contract of another player who would be included in the deal.
“The deterrent for the Lakers, since the idea of dealing Westbrook to the Hornets emerged as a concept months ago, has been concern stemming from the prospect of also absorbing Gordon Hayward’s contract, which has one guaranteed season left on it after this one at $31.5 million. Hayward was limited by injury to just 93 games in his first two seasons as a Hornet.”
Hayward would give L.A. yet another capable scorer who has historically been a very good 3-point shooter, as well as an underrated passer and facilitator.
However, he has struggled to remain healthy ever since he suffered a gruesome leg and ankle injury that cost him nearly the entire 2017-18 campaign. The forward has played in at least 60 games in a season just once since.
It is somewhat well-known that the Lakers want to have lots of cap space next summer in order to go after a big-name player.
