Lakers Have Looked To Deal Russell Westbrook, But To No Avail

To the surprise of few, the Lakers have explored trading point guard Russell Westbrook, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

To not the surprise of perhaps a few more, it seems unlikely that the Lakers will actually be able to move Westbrook ahead of the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

Westbrook has proven to be a clunky fit next to resident stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis (when healthy), and LA has suffered to find any sort of consistent rhythm because of it.

So it really is no shock that the Lakers have “showed some covert interest” in trading Westbrook, as Amick reported.

Westbrook, 33, is making a lot of money, way more than his play has warranted compared to the rest of the market. And he has a $47 million player option on his contract for next season.

So not only are the Lakers (20-19) seemingly stuck with huge money, they’re saddled with a guy who doesn’t really fit as their championship window is seemingly slamming shut.

Today, they sit in seventh place in the Western Conference, and if the playoffs began right now, they would have to face the defending Western Conference champion Suns — the same team that defeated them in the first round last season.

Granted, the Lakers have a much different look this year, landing Westbrook in a high-profile deal with the Wizards over the summer. At the time, it seemed as if a LeBron-led team had yet another version of a Big Three.

But reality has set in a little, and at just about the halfway point of the season, the Lakers look like anything but true contenders.

So they stand a good chance to try to march on with Westbrook manning the point and making the absolute best of it.

“There seems to be some recognition within the Lakers that their trade for Westbrook hasn’t been as successful as they had hoped,” RealGM wrote.