Lakers not interested in flipping Russell Westbrook for Gordon Hayward?

Yet it has since been conveyed to me that the Lakers have more boundaries than advertised when it comes to weighing Russell Westbrook trades. One league source said that injury histories would be a prime consideration in any deal, given how injuries have so routinely intruded upon the last two seasons for both 37-year-old LeBron James and 29-year-old Anthony Davis.
Source: Marc Stein @ marcstein.substack.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
#Lakers Shooting Guard Austin Reaves tells @EvCoRadio & @Amin Elhassan how the Russell Westbrook-Frank Vogel relationship never impacted the team
#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/AwgVgB1m6F – 5:01 PM

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
Easter Sunday edition of This Week In Basketball has the latest from the Westbrook Trade Watch …
PLUS around-the-league notes on the Knicks channeling the Clippers, resurgent New Orleans, more attempts at pop culture coverage AND some fresh SNUBS talk: marcstein.substack.com/p/westbrook-wa… – 1:57 PM

James Boyd @RomeovilleKid
Insider: #Pacers have big moves to make, trading for Russell Westbrook isn’t one of them indystar.com/story/sports/n… via @indystar – 10:07 AM

Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS
Lakers Twitter needs to start cyber bullying Michael Jordan into taking on Russell Westbrook as part of the GOAT debate.
If LeBron can’t fix him, neither can you MJ. If all of us scream this often enough maybe he’ll take it personally. – 5:30 PM

James Boyd @RomeovilleKid
I weighed in on the #Pacers/#Lakers trade rumors involving Russell Westbrook. Do I understand why a trade is a possibility? Yes. Should it happen? Absolutely not.
indystar.com/story/sports/n… – 11:13 AM

James Plowright @British_Buzz
I’ve seen the Hayward news being aggregated from Jake Fischer’s article. The report said “Rival” front offices think Hayward would be interested in moving on, these are NOT sources close to Hayward.
Think about why this was leaked, probably because teams have interest in GH pic.twitter.com/qcrkmBjfoS – 4:08 AM

More on this storyline

Translation: The Lakers are unlikely to consent to a Charlotte trade headlined by Gordon Hayward — not after Hayward’s first two seasons in Charlotte have likewise been injury-filled. The Lakers surely understand that they need to factor in durability if they are taking on long-term money, which suggests that Terry Rozier would have to be the Southern California-bound headliner if the Hornets and Lakers eventually progress to serious trade talks. -via marcstein.substack.com / April 17, 2022

To other teams, Westbrook represented a one-year problem on the books as a way to erase long-term commitments to other players. Some scouts and executives around the league don’t view Westbrook as a useful player at this stage, especially with a nearly $50 million price tag. The Lakers could simply cut bait and release Westbrook, either using the stretch provision to move his salary cap hit over a handful of seasons or just bite the bullet and deal with it all at once (a far less likely scenario). -via Los Angeles Times / April 14, 2022

With Westbrook’s $47 million coming off the books after next season, the Westbrook contract acts as sort of an amnesty option for any organizations facing some regretful decisions over the next two or three seasons. Teams such as Charlotte and Indiana, two that league sources say could be involved, could possibly move a package of players to the Lakers for Westbrook. -via Los Angeles Times / April 14, 2022