The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a massive NBA trade deal that sees the team acquire Russell Westbrook of the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as well as the No. 22 pick in the 2021 NBA drafts.
ESPN also reports that the Wizards have agreed to send their 2024 and 2028 second-round picks to the Lakers to round out the deal. Harrell recently opted into his $9.7 million USD player option, which made way for the deal to happen and include the power forward.
Prior to the deal agreement, the Lakers were reportedly in talks with Sacramento Kings in a deal that would have involved Buddy Hield, Kuzma and Harrell. Westbrook is set to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles to give the team a powerful boost as the team leans into the nine-time All-Star point guard's playing ability to win yet another ring.
Westbrook has managed to average a triple-double in a season four times in his career, including the most recent one. His addition to the Lakers gives the team two of the top five players in the league who lead in career triple-doubles. Westbrook surpasses James, who has 99, with 184.
On Washington's end, the deal was supposedly made with Bradley Beal in mind. The trade frees up some salary-cap for future talents they can ad to build around Beal. With Westbrook joining the Lakers, the trio of Westbrook-James-Davis would have a combined earning of $121 million USD for the 2021-22 season.
In other NBA news, the youngest Antetokounmpo brother was recently spotted at a pre-draft training workout with Indiana Pacers, sparking rumors that all four brothers might be playing in the NBA imminently.
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