Lakerholics

With the draft, free agency, and summer league in our rear view mirror, the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook trade strategy is finally unveiled: Plan A is Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris. Plan B is Buddy Hield and Myles Turner.

The good news is the Lakers apparently now have a viable backup trade partner in the Indiana Pacers willing to trade Buddy Hield and Myles Turner for Russell Westbrook and both of L.A.’s available first round picks. The Lakers have offered a package of picks including one first round pick. The Pacers have countered they want two first round picks and will reopen negotiations if the Lakers increase their offer to two first round picks.

Conjecture is the Lakers still prefer Kyrie and a shooter from the Nets over Buddy Hield and Myles Turner because championships are won by superstars and Kyrie is a superstar while Buddy and Myles are role players. They’re also going to need LeBron to sign the 2-year extension when he is eligible on August 4th. Trading for Kyrie would likely guarantee LeBron signs the extension. Who knows if he would sign for Hield and Turner.

Besides wanting a backup in case they cannot complete a Westbrook for Irving trade with the Nets, the Lakers want to create leverage with the Nets by letting Brooklyn know they may lose their only Irving trade partner. Obviously, the big question right now is how long should the Lakers be willing to wait for the Nets to finally agree to trade Kyrie Irving and either Joe Harris or Seth Curry to the Lakers for Westbrook and Horton-Tucker.

August 4th could be a key date as that’s when James and the Lakers can open negotiations on a possible 2-year extension. Right now, James and the Lakers can’t discuss or negotiate the extension or be guilty of tampering. Once James and the Lakers can legally discuss his extension, they can determine whether to continue to wait for a Kyrie Irving trade or take the bird in hand and close the deal with the Pacers for Hield and Turner.

Still unknown is whether the Lakers will be willing to trade both of their available draft picks. Right now, Jeanie Buss has said they will only do that for a deal that returns them to championship caliber, like trading for Kyrie. When you weigh all of the pluses and minuses, you can make a good case that trading for Hield and Turner could ultimately be a smarter move both in the long and short term for Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the end, this is LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, which means shooting for the moon and waiting as long as it takes to get Kyrie Irving, and not settling for second best until there is no chance of getting him.

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Dr. Jerry Buss, who built the Los Angeles Lakers into one of the most successful sports franchises in the world must be rolling over in his grave watching daughter Jeanie forget what made the team worth over $5 billion.

What made Jerry special was he understood pro basketball at its best was simply entertainment and the main key to the business succeeding was to build teams with the star power to attract fans and win championships. The 17 championship banners and 11 retired jerseys of former Laker stars like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant hanging in the rafters are why the Lakers are worth over $5 billion.

While Jerry Buss was often a reckless gambler, he always knew winning solves everything in professional sports so he never allowed himself or the Laker to become complacent or less aggressive. Winning was the only goal. Unfortunately, Jeanie seems to have forgotten that lesson as reports now say the Lakers at this time are unwilling to sign free agents or take back contracts in trades longer than the one year left on LeBron’s contract.

Trying to execute a complete offseason rebuilding of the Lakers roster is challenging enough without having to do with your hands tied behind your back and your feet hogtied. Jeanie Buss must see the forest instead of trees. Investing in the present is investing in the future when it comes to LeBron or any other NBA superstar. LeBron is here today in many ways because of how Jeanie treated Kobe, which is exactly how she should treat LeBron.

Unless the Lakers dysfunction is an inspired scam designed to befuddle competitors and create illusive leverage, the Lakers and LeBron James are now at a standoff that’s paralyzed the franchise during a critical offseason. James’ camp seems to be saying show us you can build a championship team and we’ll sign the extension. The Lakers appear to be replying sign the extension and we’ll then go all-in to build a win-now championship roster.

Who’s right and who’s wrong is not as important as the right outcome, which is LeBron James signing the 2-year extension on August 4th and the Lakers then making the long-term sacrifices to win now with LeBron.

Despite herculean efforts to find a path where Westbrook would work, the wheels of that bus are now spinning wildly out of control and threatening to derail any hopes of Russ and Lakers running it back for a second year.

While Russ has not formally requested a trade from the Lakers, he fired his longtime agent Thad Foucher over ‘irreconcilable differences’ for not agreeing with what appears to be his decision to finally request a trade. Foucher took the unusual step of going public about why he no longer will represent Russell Westbrook, recommending Russ “stay with the Lakers, embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered.”

Obviously, Russ is not happy with the constant news on the Internet that LeBron and the Lakers are actively trying to trade him for Kyrie Irving, including teams demanding an unprotected first round pick to dump him. Despite praise and support from new Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham, Westbrook clearly has no interest in changing how he plays at this point and becoming “a pit bull on defense” and “guarding at a championship level.”

With Russ apparently now ready to demand a trade, the fantasy that the Lakers and Darvin Ham would somehow keep and convince Russ to change his spots, sacrifice his stats, and embrace being an elite defender is dead. 

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How Does Russ Demanding Trade Affect Lakers’ Pursuit of Kyrie?

Anyone watching James and Westbrook consciously avoiding each other at the Las Vegas Summer League last week fully understands that Russell Westbrook is done with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Forget Russ suddenly realizing he needs to change how he plays the game if he wants to enjoy success over the remaining years in his career. Despite an honest and sincere effort by Darvin Ham, Russ is too prideful to change. He’d rather ignore warning signs and blame the disappointing last season on Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel not utilizing him properly and LeBron James and Anthony Davis not sacrificing or being able to remain healthy.

Needless to say, Russ responding in this fashion will eliminate any possible return as an active member of the rotation next season, which means the Lakers now must either find a trading partner or waive-and-stretch him. Like it or not, Russ is one of those superstar players a team does not want sitting on the bench if unhappy or disgruntled. The Lakers now know for sure that Russell Westbrook cannot be on their roster next season.

The Lakers can no longer keep alive the fantasy that Westbrook could be a productive part of the team for next season, which means they need to move quickly and decisively to trade him for Kyrie Irving whatever the cost.

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What’s Most Lakers Can Give Up in Westbrook for Irving Trade?

Russell Westbrook and Talen Horton-Tucker are two players whom are poor fits next to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and should be traded this offseason for three legitimate rotation players who are good fits.

Assuming the Lakers do not want to increase annual salaries or take back contracts longer than 1-year, this trade that includes two unprotected picks should be the Lakers best offer to the Nets for a Westbrook for Irving trade. 

This is the most likely trade since Jeanie Buss does not want to pay more in salaries or incur more in luxury taxes than they did last season when they missed the playoffs but still had the fourth highest payroll and tax total.

Assuming the Lakers were willing to increase annual salaries and take back contracts longer than 1-year to upgrade the shooters being acquired along with Kyrie, this should be the Lakers best offer for a Russ for Kyrie trade.

Harris and McDermott both can play the three in addition to the two and McDermott has even excelled as a stretch four last season. They’re a major upgrade over Curry and Richardson and can be easily moved if needed.

The Lakers dump Russ, THT, and their 2027 and 2029 first round picks and get back three dead-eye guards who shoot over 40% from deep, including Irving who won an NBA championship in Cleveland with LeBron in 2016.

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The Los Angeles Lakers seem focused on trading Russell Westbrook to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving and committing the franchise to a second straight season where most of their salary cap went to three superstars.

With the Nets paralyzed over what to do with Kevin Durant, progress on a Westbrook for Irving trade has stalled, which could be the perfect time for the Lakers to pause and consider whether trading for Kyrie is the best path. While there’s a logic and symmetry to the Lakers and Nets swapping problem superstars, committing all of your salary cap to three players makes it difficult to build a championship roster around your superstars.

The Nets’ implosion opened a door to a seemingly impossible gift from the basketball gods, a chance to dump Russell Westbrook and receive in return superstar point guard Kyrie Irving and elite shooting guard Joe Harris. Frankly, the Lakers and LeBron were so excited about the chance to swap Russ for two legitimate starters, including a superstar and an elite 3-point shooter that they may not have thoroughly considered their other options.

So let’s compare the Lakers’ rotations if they traded Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and two unprotected first round picks for Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris or Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, T.J. McConnell, and Patrick Beverley.

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1. Trade for Irving and Harris

The above trade sends Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, and the Lakers 2027 and 2029 unprotected first round draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets for superstar point guard Kyrie Irving and elite two guard Joe Harris.

Irving would immediately become the Lakers’ starting point guard and the team’s lead scorer and playmaker, while Harris would become the starting shooting guard and needed high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter. While Irving, Harris, James, and Davis is a great foursome, the starting center position would be between two young unproven centers, with 27-year old Damian Jones likely beating out 24-year old Thomas Bryant.

That would give the Lakers a starting five of Irving, Harris, James, Davis, and Jones with backups of Nunn, Reaves, Brown Jr, Johnson, and Bryant and reserves of Christie, Walker IV, Toscano-Anderson, and Gabriel.

Is that a championship starting lineup and rotation? Assuming James, Davis, and Irving all are healthy and Kyrie is on his best contract year behavior, the Lakers should be able to compete for a championship again. The biggest question marks with this superstar laden roster is whether Jones and Bryant can provide the 3-point gravity to help the team’s spacing or the shot blocking and rim protection to anchor the team’s defense.

Point guard and center are where Darvin Ham wants the Lakers’ best two defenders. They’re also key positions for spacing on offense. The problem is Kyrie Irving and Damian Jones are not Jrue Holiday or Brook Lopez. 

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2. Trades for Turner, Hield, McConnell, and Beverley

The first trade sends Westbrook and the Lakers’ 2027 and 2029 unprotected first round draft picks to the Pacers for Turner, Hield, and McConnell. The second trade sends Horton-Tucker and Gabriel to the Jazz for Beverley.

Turner would immediately become the Lakers’ starting stretch five center, Hield the starting shooting guard and volume 3-point shooter, Beverley the starting point guard and lead defender, and McConnell backup point guard. What makes this starting lineup and rotation better than one with Irving and Harris is having elite defenders in Patrick Beverley and Myles Turner manning the critical point guard and center positions in Ham’s defense.

That would give Lakers a starting five of Beverley, Hield, James, Davis, and Turner with backups of McConnell, Reaves, Brown Jr, Johnson, and Jones and reserves of Nunn, Christie, Walker IV, Toscano-Anderson, and Bryant.

Is this a championship starting lineup and rotation? While it lacks three superstars, it has Beverley at point guard and Turner at stretch center, both of whom can fill the key two-way roles of Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez. What we’re seeing is the same challenge the team faced last season, which is having to make a philosophical decision whether three superstars or two superstars with a more talented starting lineup and more depth on bench.

The Lakers need to stop chasing players because of their name and instead focus on adding players to the team whose offensive and defensive skillsets better complement and unleash LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

A year after trading for Russell Westbrook, Lakers’ GM Rob Pelinka is on the verge of pulling off a miraculous extreme makeover that could catapult Los Angeles from dismal lottery team to legitimate championship contender.

That’s what pulling off the proposed Russell Westbrook for Kyrie Irving trade would mean to the Lakers. Pelinka has done excellent work making the Lakers younger, bigger, and more athletic but the job’s not done. The Irving trade would be the crown on an under-the-radar superb summer by Pelinka, who was given little chance of getting out of the Westbrook trade, but is now on the verge not only of trading Russ but doing it for Kyrie.

While some would criticize the Lakers’ offseason decisions as having been ‘hit-and-miss’ and the front office as not being ‘in-lock-step,’ there’s respect growing for how the team managed and controlled media this offseason. Frankly, the Lakers have done a remarkable job convincing everybody that they’re willing to bring Russ back if they can’t trade him and that they’re not going to give up draft picks or take back bad contracts just to move him.

Here are the five difference-making moves that could transform the Lakers into legitimate championship contender and make Rob Pelinka one of the early season favorites to win the NBA’s coveted Executive of the Year award.

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1. Hire Darvin Ham as the Head Coach (Check ✔)

Pelinka’s summer and everything good that’s followed started with the inspired hiring of Darvin Ham, whose charisma has won everybody over and whose leadership promises to give the Lakers identity and direction.

Darvin Ham was a breath of fresh air that a Lakers organization exposed as dysfunctional in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade desperately needed. Suddenly, the Lakers had a charismatic voice to lead them into the future. Rather than try to fit candidates into a preconfigured checklist, Pelinka and the Lakers’ brain trust simply bought in to the Darvin Ham’s vision for the Lakers, how to optimize LeBron and AD, and how to resurrect Russ.

The other factor in Ham’s favor when it came down to winning the Lakers job was his fit due to his recent experience on the Bucks’ coaching staff running a modern stretch offense to create floor spacing for Giannis. That Pelinka also interviewed Bucks’ assistant coach Charles Lee as well as Darvin Ham was not a coincidence. Give Rob credit. He finally realized the Lakers needed to modernize their offensive approach to win today.

Every organization needs to have a visionary and Pelinka and the Lakers have smartly bet Darvin Ham can be that visionary to lead the team to the promised land and have given him full authority to run the team as sees fit.

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2. Give Ham Power Over Staff and Style of Play (Check ✔)

Besides hiring the right coach, Pelinka reversed what were major mistakes made during Frank Vogel’s hiring. Unlike with Vogel, the Lakers agreed to allow Darvin to hire his own coaches and determine the team’s style of play.

While what they’re paying him has not been made public, the Lakers did give Ham an unprecedented four-year contract plus the freedom to build his own staff, which is comprised of dynamic young coaches like him. Surprisingly, Darvin also did not hire an experienced former head coach as his lead assistant. Instead, he hired Hawks’ assistant Chris Jent, a rising young assistant coach with a strong background in player development.

Pelinka also did an about face when it came to the style of play the Lakers would deploy, making sure everybody understood Darvin Ham was the coach of the team and there would be no front office interference like with Vogel. Unspoken is that we wouldn’t be seeing any of the odd organizational quirks like Kurt Rambis overseeing Ham’s coaching meetings or the front office instead of the coaching staff promising starting roles or playing time.

Make no mistake, Darvin Ham was specifically brought in by the Lakers to run a modern NBA offense to create spacing for LeBron James and Anthony Davis like Milwaukee did for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

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3. Create Back-Up Plan for Russell Westbrook (Check ✔)

The Lakers realized early that they might have trouble finding a trading partner for Russell Westbrook considering how poorly he had played last season so they smartly put together a contingency plan if they kept him.

The goal of the contingency plan was two fold. First, they wanted to build up Westbrook’s trade value as much as possible. Second, they wanted to give Russ a clear understanding of what would be expected if he stayed. Ham had numerous meetings and conversations so there would be no misunderstanding if the Lakers brought Russ back that his focus would be first on defense and playing off the ball, not on scoring and triple doubles.

While Darvin Ham has been enthusiastic about the opportunity to coach Russ and what a fan of his he is, the reality is the Lakers’ priority is to trade Russ and the contingency plan is also a good way to draw a line in the sand. Should the Lakers not be successful in trading Russ, they have made it perfectly clear to him what his role would be on this team should he return. Unfortunately, the chances Russ could meet those requirements are slim.

Whether the Lakers were serious or just posturing doesn’t matter as the Russ for Kyrie trade is going to happen. With Darvin Ham’s lead, the Lakers have also made sure to show Russ the respect he deserves as a player.

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4. Give Ham the Roster He Needs to Win Championship. (Pending …)

Unlike last season when the Lakers front office build a roster that was the opposite of what head coach Frank Vogel wanted, Rob Pelinka involved new head coach Darvin Ham on every personnel decision made this summer.

The result, when finished, will be a roster that is exactly what Darvin Ham wants, which is dramatically younger, taller and longer, more athletic, and better shooting than last year’s roster. Kyrie is the star of this class. Pelinka needs Kyrie’s elite playmaking and 3-point shooting to upgrade the Lakers starting lineup and superstar big three. He also needs the additional one or two high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters slated to be filler.

Choosing to go younger, bigger, and more athletic is a dramatic change from last year’s team which was the oldest in the league. This year, 12 of the 17 players on Lakers roster including two-ways will be under 30-years old. More importantly, once the Irving trade goes through, the Lakers will have created a team that can not only challenge for a championship this year but hopefully for many years to come, depending on how Kyrie works out.

While the Lakers still lack a bigger 3&D wing defender, they have improved their positional size advantage by starting a stretch center while moving LeBron to the 3 and AD to the four against smaller opponents.

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5. Trade Russell Westbrook for Kyrie Irving (Pending …)

Having hired Ham, empowered him to choose a staff and style of play, created a back-up plan for Westbrook, all that remains for Rob Pelinka to do to make this offseason a sensational success is to trade for Kyrie Irving.

Because the Lakers and Nets must match salaries for trade to be legal, the simplest trade is Russell Westbrook and a pick for Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry, which is a trade where neither team sees annual salaries increase. That’s important because both teams pay heavy luxury taxes so $10 million increase in salary could cost as much as $20 to $40 million including taxes. For the same reason, neither team wants to take back multi-year contracts.

What makes trading Westbrook challenging is the Nets do not want him, which means they either have to buy him out or require the Lakers to involve a third team to take him, which would mean draft compensation. Ideally, the Lakers need three legitimate rotation players for Irving via a trade of Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, Nunn, and 2 picks for Irving, and two of the Nets’ Harris or Curry or the Spurs’ Richardson, or McLemore.

The Russ for Kyrie trade would not only give the Lakers a better-fitting superstar big three but also three high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters they need to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis.