Lakers Trade Rumors: Reviewing Latest Chatter on 2023 Deadline Day
The clock is ticking on the 2023 NBA trade deadline—scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Thursday—and the Los Angles Lakers are getting in on the last-minute action. The Lakers, it seems, are still trying to salvage their season.
Los Angeles got to experience a bright moment on Tuesday, when LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record, but the highlights have been few and far between for fans this season.
The Lakers lost the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and fell to 25-30 on the season. When James is playing at his best and Anthony Davis is healthy, L.A. can be a tough squad to beat, however, the Lakers have not had the complementary pieces necessary to be considered a serious playoff threat.
This could change, now that Los Angeles, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz are reportedly finalizing a three-team trade that will send Russell Westbrook to Utah and bring a trio of supporting players to L.A.
Here, we'll dive into the latest buzz surrounding that deal and other Lakers' trade-related chatter heading into the deadline.
Lakers to Acquire Malik Beasley, D' Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt
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James and Davis remain one of the league's top duos when healthy. However, Los Angeles has struggled to put a quality supporting cast around them over the past two seasons. On Wednesday night, the Lakers made a move to do just that.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Lakers are set to acquire D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in a deal involving the Timberwolves and Jazz.
This is a great move for L.A. for a couple of reasons. For starters, Los Angeles is only surrendering their 2027 first-round pick, according to Greg Beachum of the Associated Press. That's less than the Lakers offered for Kyrie Irving, an offer we'll dive into momentarily, and it's a top-four protected pick, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
In this deal, Los Angeles acquires Russell instead of Irving to play point guard. It also adds another shooter in Beasley,—who is shooting 35.9 percent from three-point range—and a 6'8" forward in Vanderbilt.
While Russell might not be as dynamic as Irving, adding Beasley and Vanderbilt are big. The Lakers lack size on the bench and have made a league-low 10.5 three-pointers per game.
While reuniting Irving and James would have been exciting, this trade gives Los Angeles a much more complete roster than it would have by acquiring Irving alone. And if the details are accurate, Los Angeles still gets to keep its 2029 first-round selection.
Los Angeles Made a Serious Play for Kyrie Irving
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Deadline week kicked off with a blockbuster trade that sent Irving from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs acquired Irving and Markieff Morris in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick, and 2027 and 2029 second-round picks.
Before the deal was finalized, though, Los Angeles made a serious offer to acquire James' former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate.
"The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving in the last two days, sources with knowledge of the discussions said," Shams Charania wrote for The Athletic.
While L.A.'s offer wasn't strong enough—Brooklyn also wanted Austin Reaves and Max Christie, per Charania—it did suggest that Rob Pelinka and the front office were willing to go all-in on the current season. The Lakers acquired Rai Hachimura in an earlier in-season trade, but that deal only cost the Lakers Kendrick Nunn and a trio of second-round selections.
The Hachimura deal could be viewed as a middle-ground trade—one balanced between 2023 contention and trying to build for the future. Including two first-rounders in the Irving offer suggested that at least a contingent of the front office believes that L.A. is only a piece or two away from winning now.
The move to acquire Russell, Beasley and Vanderbilt confirms it.
Teams Have Inquired About Anthony Davis
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While the Lakers are clearly going all-in on the current season, other teams looked into plucking pieces away from Los Angeles before their latest move.
According to Sam Amico of Hoops Wire, teams inquired about Davis.
"Several teams have reached out to the Lakers on star forward/center Anthony Davis, sources told Hoops Wire. But the Lakers are quickly shooting down any such talk, sources added," Amico wrote on Monday.
The fact that teams are interested in Davis is unsurprising. Though he has battled injuries throughout his NBA career, the 29-year-old is still a top-20 talent when he's healthy. If he could be had, he could help a more complete roster make a legitimate championship run.
Of course, the Lakers' unwillingness to move Davis is also unsurprising. He and James are the only real building blocks that the Lakers have. Even if they're looking to reload and try again in 2023, keeping Davis is the best option.
James is still an elite player, but he's 38 years old and Los Angeles' window with him is closing. While the draft picks L.A. would undoubtedly get for Davis would be valuable, they probably wouldn't turn into players who could help the Lakers immediately chase another championship with James.
L.A.'s newest trio of players can do that, and there's virtually no scenario in which Davis will be on the move this season.
Clippers Interested in Russell Westbrook
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Things haven't been perfect under rookie head coach Darvin Ham, but he deserves credit for getting some quality play out of Westbrook. While the 34-year-old point guard never lived up to expectations in L.A., he became much more valuable under Ham than under former head coach Frank Vogel.
Ham made the risky decision to utilize Westbrook as a sixth man instead of as a starter. In that role, he averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds. By finding a role that works for Westbrook, Ham was also able to turn him into somewhat of a trade commodity.
Back in September, the league-wide perception was that Los Angeles would have to include both the 2027 and 2029 first-round picks to offload Westbrook and bring back anything of value, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
Ham's work with Westbrook may have saved Los Angeles a first-round pick, and it has left the player as a desirable commodity. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT, the Los Angeles Clippers are interested in adding him if he's bought out by the Jazz.
While Westbrook's future is no longer a concern for the Lakers, there's at least a chance that he's still playing in Los Angeles at the end of the season.
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