NBA Insider Reveals The Lakers’ Plan For Russell Westbrook If A Trade Did Not End Up Happening

The LA Lakers were busy last night on the trade market with the deadline ending at 3:00pm today. A three-team deal went down that is sending Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz while the Lakers are acquiring D’Angelo Russell and a few other players. Westbrook’s time in LA was becoming stale and the Lakers were able to find a trade suitor for him. However, NBA insiders revealed the shocking plans that LA had for him if a trade did not end up happening. 

Rumors had been circling for a while now that Westbrook would be on the move and it finally happened. He may sealed his own fate on Tuesday night when head coach Darvin Ham and himself got in a heated halftime argument. It’s clear that the Lakers were done with his antics and he just wasn’t apart of their future plans anymore.

D’Angelo Russell is now back with the team that drafted him ask they Lakers made a move at the deadline to try and upgrade the roster for a playoff run. California Sports Betting sites have the Lakers at (+2500) to win the Finals this season.

Russell Westbrook is on the move once more.

(h/t @FieldYates) pic.twitter.com/DkMfYtPoar

— ESPN (@espn) February 9, 2023

The Lakers had some shocking plans for Westbrook if yesterday’s trade did not happen

It was clear from the very beginning of this season that Westbrook was not fitting in. Darvin Ham made the decision just four games into make Westbrook a player off the bench. That was he first sign that the coaching staff and himself were not jiving.

Before this season, Westbrook had played in 1,021 games and there were only 17 games in that span where he did not start. This season he played 52 games and in 49 of them he came off the bench. A player like Westbrook doesn’t just go from starting over 1.000 career games and then a bench player the next season.

The Lakers were done with Westbrook and NBA insider Brian Windhorst revealed the shocking plans the Lakers had for him if a deal never went down. He says that the Lakers would have simply kept him inactive and would have sent him home for the rest of the season.

“I would almost say that if Russell Westbrook was not traded yesterday, that there was a decent chance that the Lakers would have sent him home. I don’t even think LeBron personally dislikes him, I just think that the effect on each other on the court was a negative,” – Brian Windhorst

However, the Lakers still owe Westbrook $47 million for this season. Rumors say that Westbrook mat be bought-out by the Jazz with teams like the Clippers, Bulls, and Heat.