Detroit Pistons: Russell Westbrook rumors need to be squashed

Detroit Pistons: What could the Lakers add to a Russell Westbrook trade?

Whoever takes on Westbrook is not going to do it for free, as you are essentially giving up a super-max slot in your payroll for a guy who is no longer that type of player. It’s a lot of money for a guy who shoots 44 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range.

The Lakers would have to include an asset for anyone to take on this contract, but what asset? They don’t have any good young players the Pistons would want, so it would have to be a future draft pick.

The next pick the Lakers can trade is in 2025, and maybe not even then, as the Pelicans have the right to swap in either 2024 or 2025, so it may be 2026 before the Lakers even have a first-round pick to trade.

If the Detroit Pistons were willing to wait that long, this is a trade that might work:

The Pistons would send some roster depth back to the Lakers in exchange for Westbrook and a future 1st.

I am not even sure the Lakers would be interested in this, and the Pistons would have to have CoJo opt-in to his player option and then pick up the team option on Jackson before trading him, so it is complicated on both sides.

The Lakers would clear some future cap space, as Joseph and Jackson only have one year left on their deals and Olynyk’s final year isn’t guaranteed. Would the Lakers give away Westbrook for three marginal players just to get rid of him? And tack on a first round pick on top of it?

That’s probably what it would take, as the Detroit Pistons aren’t going to take on an Albatross like that without some kind of incentive.

I don’t see how this gets the Lakers any closer to contending next season and the Pistons would essentially be punting on their player development for a whole season on a guy who is not a fit for the chance at a distant draft pick.

Seems like a pretty big roll of the dice for both teams and it could make both of them worse.