LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: Only the Purple and Gold made a significant offer to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis, three teams enter into a trade conversation around Russell Westbrook, and more - July 26th, 2022
The Russell Westbrook saga in Los Angeles continues as the LA Lakers are unable to find a trade partner. Also, Shareef O'Neal, son of Purple and Gold legend Shaquille O'Neal, just signed with the NBA G-League Ignite.
Additionally, Rasheed Wallace will not be joining the Lakers coaching staff. Darvin Ham now has to look for a replacement in the front row.
Let's take a look at some rumors around the Lakers in the last 24 hours.
NBA Insider suggests three-team trade including Pacers and Nets
The LA Lakers have been aiming to acquire Buddy Hield for the last two years. Trade rumors popped up in the offseason but dwindled down after a while.
Moreover, the Lakers are desperately trying to get Kyrie Irving and several reports out of Southern California point to that. However, no deals have materialized so far.
NBA reporter Sam Quinn of CBS Sports suggested that the Lakers could hit two birds with one stone and acquire both Hield and Irving in a three-team trade. It would require the Lakers to give up Russell Westbrook and Talen Horton-Tucker. They would also have to part with two first-round picks and possibly two second-rounders as well.
Screw it, here are my predictions:
Kevin Durant for Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, two unprotected picks and one swap.
Kyrie Irving and Buddy Hield to the Lakers, Russell Westbrook and the 2029 1st to Indiana, Talen Horton-Tucker, the 2027 first and two 2nds to Brooklyn.
Three teams enter into Russell Westbrook trade talks
Many teams aren't interested in Russell Westbrook after the horrific season he had last year. He has been labeled a liability on both ends of the floor and the Lakers suffered despite LeBron James' MVP-caliber season.
Regardless of his market value, the LA Lakers continued to have discussions with potential trade partners and now three teams are reportedly interested.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported:
"Utah, New York and Indiana are among the teams that have discussed deals with the Lakers involving Russell Westbrook and draft capital, sources said.
"There appears no deal imminent in those conversations — as the overall trade market plays out over the next two months of the offseason."
The Jazz, Pacers and Knicks have all reportedly discussed Russell Westbrook trades with the Lakers.
lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-… https://t.co/rVr7Pqdg9D
LA Lakers were the only team heavily interested in Anthony Davis in the 2019 offseason
LeBron James signed with the LA Lakers in 2018 and they acquired Anthony Davis the following summer. They won the title in 2020 and the James-Davis duo was cemented as one of the best tendems of the decade.
At the time, the Lakers gave up a lot of assets to land Davis from New Orleans. They traded Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, draft rights to De'Andre Hunter and Brandon Ingram. The deal also included cash consideration, two first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap.
Now Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer has shed new light on the matter. He said the Lakers were the only team that made any significant offer to the Pelicans. He reported:
"When Anthony Davis was on the trade block in 2019, the [Boston] Celtics only internally deliberated on including [Jaylen] Brown in a package to New Orleans—the Pelicans’ one significant offer for Davis came from Los Angeles, sources said."
Report: Lakers were only team to make ‘significant’ offer to Pelicans for Anthony Davis in 2019 lakersdaily.com/report-lakers-…