The Lakers may be forced to stick with Russell Westbrook this season.
According to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers are still turning down requests to attach multiple first-round draft picks in any trade featuring Westbrook.
“The team, after all, could always add more stuff to any trade offers in an effort to unload Westbrook,” Woike wrote. “And depending on what the expectations are in return, they could simply just keep piling on the limited trade assets that they have (pick swaps, second-round picks, etc.). So far, that’s a road the Lakers haven’t seriously taken, Rob Pelinka surprising plenty of folks around the NBA with his hesitancy to attach multiple drafts picks with Westbrook in trade talks.”
The Lakers have reportedly were involved in talks with the Nets to trade Westbrook for Kyrie Irving but the Lakers are reluctant to send any draft picks in exchange for Irving due to his unpredictable behavior.
“And there are the Lakers’ reasons for hesitancy with Kyrie Irving — his vaccination status, injury history and track record of saying he wants to stay somewhere before signing somewhere different — that have already and will certainly further be considered before talking about two firsts,”
