Lakers: Predicting which former Lakers get traded from the Wizards
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers made a pretty shocking, and somewhat desperate, trade for Russell Westbrook this offseason. The team needed to improve from last season and Rob Pelinka made the boldest trade that he could have made.
There is a good chance that this trade pans out for the Lakers and that Westbrook proves to be a true addition, not someone who holds the team back. On the other hand, there is the chance that this blows up in the team’s face and sets them back for quite some time.
Let’s not even think about the latter.
The Washington Wizards acquired Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft for Westbrook. That may not seem like the best trade return for a former MVP.
However, in the grand scheme of things, it is a big win for Washington. The Wizards flipped John Wall’s horrible contract for Westbrook and then was able to get off of his contract early. It seemed impossible that Washington would get out of that Wall contract and they have rather easily.
The three former Los Angeles Lakers are not a guarantee to stay with the Washington Wizards, though.
The Wizards are not in a place to contend for anything this season and if they can flip any of the assets they acquired from the Lakers, for the right price, then they should. That being said, it does not mean that the Lakers will trade Kuzma, KCP and Harrell. Some may stay, some may go.
Here are our predictions on which former Lakers will stay with Washington throughout the season and which will be on the move.