NBA Trade Machine: Can the LA Lakers sell Russell Westbrook to acquire Terry Rozier in a shock move?
The LA Lakers have multiple players capable of playing at the shooting guard position, but none of them average anywhere near 20 points per game. Patrick Beverley is not a regular scorer while Dennis Schroder is also only capable of scoring in spurts and is averaging 12.2 points per game.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier for the third time in recent trade rumors. The Lakers attempted to acquire Rozier in a three-team trade involving Donovan Mitchell, and The Athletic's Shams Charania reported in October that the Lakers had serious interest in Rozier.
Given the Lakers' front office's admiration for undersized and talented guards, their interest in Rozier is not surprising.
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Russell Westbrook could be involved in a trade between LA and the Charlotte Hornets.
The Charlotte Hornets have had a disastrous season in which LaMelo Ball has had consistent injury issues. They are 15-38 in the Eastern Conference and have multiple players who are likely to generate interest from other teams. This includes 28-year old guard Terry Rozier, who is averaging 21.7 points, 4.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
LA are looking to move Russell Westbrook, who has failed to nail down a starting spot. The Lakers still have time to save their season and want a player who can start alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis (although both have had injury issues of their own recently
These two at it again. #LakersWin https://t.co/C3jc3tjQri
According to Yahoo Sports, the front office is speaking with multiple teams:
“Rob Pelinka's front office has continued dialogue with rival teams about trading Russell Westbrook, most notably conversations with the [Utah] Jazz as reported by Bleacher Report. Charlotte, with guard Terry Rozier, remains another possible trade partner for Westbrook.”
Moving Westbrook to acquire Rozier makes a lot of sense, and it seems like a very real possibility at this point.
Can Terry Rozier help the LA Lakers get to the postseason?
LeBron James finished with 26 points in the last-ditch win against the Indiana Pacers, leaving him 63 points behind the all-time scorer in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. LA still have a lot of work to do, but have shown improvement in recent games. They are 12th in the Western Conference and can still easily qualify for the Play-in tournament.
Terry Rozier is an all-round scorer and a volume shooter who can benefit from having playmakers like James and Anthony Davis around him. He is currently averaging 21.7 points, 4.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds for the Charlotte Hornets, which might improve with James and Davis.
Rozier is having the best scoring season of his career and can bring defensive resilience as well.
Rozier is on the first of a four-year contract worth over $96 million, and has an annual salary of just over $24 million. With both LeBron James and Anthony Davis fit and firing, LA aches for another star who can play off the ball. As such, they are in contact with several teams.
What offer do they realistically have to counter if the Lakers offer multiple 1sts? + an expiring $47M twitter.com/YoungNBA/statu…
Recently, they have also been linked with a trade for Kyrie Irving, although the wantaway superstar has attracted interest from a number of teams. The front office has been backed by LeBron James to opt for short-term improvements and just one trade could allow them to compete in the postseason.
Of course, they first need to get there, and trading Russell Westbrook away seems to be the next logical step.