Los Angeles Lakers Acquire Russell Westbrook In Blockbuster Deal

Lakers Acquire Russell Westbrook

Lakers acquire Russell Westbrook, you read that correctly! The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed with the Washington Wizards to acquire Russell Westbrook in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwwell Pope, and the first-round No. 22 pick in 2021 NBA Draft.

Washington selected Kentucky center Isaiah Jackson for the pick but traded him to the Indiana Pacers for the 31st pick and point guard Aaron Holiday, the younger brother of Jrue Holiday. Washington used the 31st pick on 19-year-old Isaiah Todd, a power forward from the NBA’s G-League team Ignite.

In addition to Westbrook, the Lakers will acquire the 2024 and 2028 second-round pick from the Washington Wizards. The nine-time All-Star now joins Lebron James and Anthony Davis as the newest “Big Three” of the NBA’s Western Conference. There is some chemistry between the three as they played together back in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London Olympics for Team USA, although young Davis was just in the summer before his rookie year.

The trade won’t be finalized until Aug. 6 when the salary cap becomes official, yet Westbrook has made a farewell IG post Thursday night.

 

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A post shared by Russell Westbrook (@russwest44)

This will be Westbrook’s fourth team in four seasons. The Long Beach native is now back home in California where he played at UCLA before being drafted fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. In the 2020-2021 season, Westbrook averaged a triple-double with 22.2 points, 11.7 assists and 11.5 rebounds.

His 31.5 three-point percentage is an alarming statistic, as the Lakers are in dire need of a sharpshooter. Once the deal is finalized and the Lakers acquire Russell Westbrook, we will likely see more action in the upcoming weeks. The NBA free agency officially begins on Monday, Aug. 2 and the Lakers will look to continue to fill the roles, and the holes, on their superteam. One more time, the Lakers acquire Russell Westbrook.

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