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Russell Westbrook

Lakers Fast Break- We Have Questions As Lakers Training Camp Begins! with Joe Soro!

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Training camp for the Lakers has begun but there are still so many questions that need to be answered. Can Russell Westbrook regain his form? If he does will he still be traded? Can LeBron and Anthony Davis stay healthy? With no guarantees given (we believe) who will be the starting guards? Will Cole Swider crack the rotation? How long will Pat Bev and Russ remain best friends? All this and questions from our live chat as well plus thoughts on episode eight of Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers as Joe Soro from lakersball.com returns to talk with Gerald on this episode of the Lakers Fast Break podcast!

Please Like, Share, and Subscribe to our channel and our social media @lakersfastbreak on Twitter. If you have questions for us give us a shout-out on Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook, or send us your thoughts to lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com.

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Presented by our friends at the Hoop Heads Podcast Network, NBA Draft Junkies, lakerholics.com, lakersball.com, Pop Culture Cosmos, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, Vampires and Vitae, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble), The Happy Hoarder, and Retro City Games!

Lakers Fast Break- Was Media Day Everything We Hoped For? Group Chat!

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Media Day has come and gone for the Lakers but what was said that was of interest and what can we take from everything that went on? Tune in as the guys from Lakers Fast Break take note of what was said and debate whether it will mean anything as we move ahead to training camp and the exhibition season. So much to discuss as Joe Soro from lakersball.com, LakerTom from lakerholics.com, “MagicMan” Sean Grice and YouTube’s John Mikaelian stop by on our latest Lakers Fast Break podcast!

Please Like, Share, and Subscribe to our channel and our social media @lakersfastbreak on Twitter. If you have questions for us give us a shout-out on Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook, or send us your thoughts to lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com.

Gear up with your favorite Lakers Fast Break shirts and gifts in our Pop Culture Cosmos TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos

Presented by our friends at the Hoop Heads Podcast Network, NBA Draft Junkies, lakerholics.com, lakersball.com, Pop Culture Cosmos, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, Vampires and Vitae, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble), The Happy Hoarder, and Retro City Games!

Can Pacers Trade Open Championship Window for Lakers This Year & Later?

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Despite the Lakers announcing Westbrook as their starting point guard and the Pacers declaring Turner to be their starting center, there’s still a good chance both may be traded for each other before the start of the season.

The Lakers and Pacers trade is still likely to happen because it’s a trade both teams need to top off a successful offseason and stay laser focused on their respective strategies, which is win now for Los Angeles and tank for Indiana. Frankly, the Lakers don’t want to start the season with rookie coach Darvin Ham trying to rehabilitate Russell Westbrook and the Pacers have nothing to gain by starting the season with Turner and Hield still on the roster.

With the Lakers’ regular season opening October 18th and the Pacers on October 19th, the two teams have a little over three weeks to haggle their way to a mutually acceptable deal, most likely including two first rounders. This is a trade that benefits both teams and needs to be made now rather than dragging into the season. The two sides are too close for a deal this important to fail because of a pick swap or protection on a second pick.

But even if the Pacers stubbornly stand firm and demand two unprotected picks, the Lakers need to make this trade. It’s their only move right now to open up a legitimate albeit small championship window for this season. Just as importantly, trading Westbrook for Turner and Hield puts the Lakers in a stronger position to pull off a possible midseason Irving trade with the Nets, should they struggle out-of-the-gate and look to move Kyrie.

The Nets currently don’t have a starting center but have long coveted Myles Turner as the prototype modern center. Should Nets’ chaos occur, the Lakers would be better positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. Nobody knows if Kyrie is going to be available but being able to offer Turner and Hield instead of Westbrook would probably win the trade for L.A. In fact, Lakers probably have no chance at swapping Russ for Kyrie,

No matter how much they like to talk about cap space, the Lakers know there’s no way they can create the amount of cap space needed to sign a superstar in free agency, which means their only option is trade for one. Come the trade deadline, teams will know the Lakers have to trade Russ, which will reduce what they will offer. The odds of a great trade appearing aren’t worth the risk of disaster Russ and the current roster represent.

Right now, the correct strategic response by the Lakers is to step back and see how camp turns out and specifically how Russ is working. Considering what’s at stake, I hope and expect to see positive reports from the Lakers. Regardless of intent, those camp reports will affect negotiations between the two teams, especially if things turn rocky with Russ. The start of the season is miles away in the condensed landscape of camp and preseason.

Everything the Lakers have done this season has been done assuming a Westbrook trade would fix the size and shooting issues. Rob now has three weeks to pull off the Pacers’ trade and win the Lakers’ summer and future.

Could the San Antonio Spurs Be the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook Offramp?

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While it won’t make them championship contenders this year, trading Russ and one unprotected first round pick to the Spurs could help the Lakers enjoy a winning year while also setting them up for a mega next summer.

The Lakers trade strategy this offseason has evolved to not giving up both draft picks, not taking back more salary than sending out, and not taking back long-term contracts that would reduce open cap space next summer. Sticking to that strategy and refusing to include a second first round pick cost the Los Angeles Lakers a chance to trade with the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield or trade with the Jazz for Bojan Bogdanovic.

While it lacks the big names of the Pacers or Jazz trades, the Spurs trade would only cost Lakers one pick, enable them to win more games this year, and better position them to enjoy a blockbuster offseason next summer.

1. Spurs Provide Lakers’ Westbrook Offramp

This trade has the Los Angeles Lakers trading Russell Westbrook and their 2027 unprotected first round draft pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Jakob Poeltl, Josh Richardson, and a $25.4 million Traded Player Exception.

By adding Poeltl, who would be the starting center, and Richardson, who would be the starting shooting guard, the Lakers would immediately upgrade their starting lineup and improve their shot at a winning season. Just as importantly, dumping Westbrook would have left them with two key trading chips in the form of the $25.4 million TPE and their 2029 first round draft pick to use for a mega upgrade at the trade deadline or next summer.

The $25.4 million TPE would give the Lakers incredible financial flexibility. They could use it all on one star or split it up between two or three players. They could allow part of it to expire to avoid the luxury tax repeater status. The Lakers could use the TPE to acquire players on expiring contracts so they could create as much open cap space as possible for free agents next summer. Or sign players on two-year deals to sync with James and Davis.

Best of all, the Spurs trade provides the Los Angeles Lakers with an offramp from Russell Westbrook and the inevitable chaos that bringing him back would put the team and their new head coach through.

2. How the Spurs Trade Helps the Lakers Win Now

While it doesn’t make the Lakers championship favorites, the Spurs trade provides the Lakers with two perfect plug-and-play players in Jakob Poeltl and Josh Richardson who dramatically upgrade their starting lineup.

Poeltl and Richardson slot perfectly into the Lakers’ rotation as starting center and shooting guard. Though a budget version of Turner and Hield, Poeltl and Richardson dramatically improve the Lakers’ starting lineup. While he’s not a stretch five and a poor free-throw shooter, Poeltl is an elite defensive center who ranked 7th in the league in blocked shots. Richardson gives the Lakers desperately needed 3-point shooting and wing size.

The $25.4 million TPE, however, is the grand prize from the trade as it will allow the Lakers to take one or more players in trade without having to send our salary in return. The TPE is good for one year from date of trade. At trade deadline, there will be teams looking to move players to avoid luxury taxes. The Lakers will have the option of only accepting players on minimum contracts to preserve cap space or multi-year contracts.

The Lakers have to trade Russell Westbrook as allowing his contract to expire make him a free agent and leave L.A. with James and Davis as their only tradeable contracts, which would leave them unable to make a trade.

3. How the Spurs Trade Helps the Lakers Next Summer

The Lakers could enter next summer with either $35 million in open cap space to pursue free agents or a trade portfolio with two first round draft picks and $45 million in tradeable contracts for a blockbuster upgrade.

Unfortunately, the Lakers can’t have their cake and eat it too. They will have to decide which route to go before the February 9, 2023 trade deadline so they can aggregate a portfolio of expiring or tradeable player contracts. Should they decide to pursue free agents, they will then need to convert all of their contracts other than James and Davis into expiring contracts to create cap space or multi-year contracts to to match salaries in a trade.

Unspoken but surely a factor in the Lakers’ overall strategy is finding a superstar replacement for Russell Westbrook and for 237-year old LeBron James. Still at the top of the Lakers’ most coveted list is Kyrie Irving. Pursuing Irving via free agency seems like a remote chance since he will demand far more than the $ 35 million the Lakers could offer. Lakers would have a better chance of acquiring Irving via a sign-and-trade deal.

In the end, the Lakers best option for a mega makeover next summer would be to use their two picks and $45 million in tradeable long-term contracts to trade for a third superstar to take over when LeBron retires.

Lakers Fast Break- Will A Russ Trade Happen Before Training Camp? Group Chat!

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With training camp starting next week and the rumors still out on a possible trade destination for Russell Westbrook the question remains, is a deal on the way? Where could they still trade Russ to and why should the Spurs NOT be an option? With Joe Soro from lakersball.com plus Jamie Sweet and LakerTom from lakerholics.com weighing in with their thoughts with Gerald, what could possibly go wrong?  We break it down to you once again on the Lakers Fast Break podcast!

Please Like, Share, and Subscribe to our channel and our social media @lakersfastbreak on Twitter. If you have questions for us give us a shout-out on Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook, or send us your thoughts to lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com.

Gear up with your favorite Lakers Fast Break shirts and gifts in our Pop Culture Cosmos TeePublic store at https://www.teepublic.com/user/pop-culture-cosmos

Presented by our friends at the Hoop Heads Podcast Network, NBA Draft Junkies, lakerholics.com, lakersball.com, Pop Culture Cosmos, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, Vampires and Vitae, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble), The Happy Hoarder, and Retro City Games!