Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell Westbrook to Utah Jazz in a three-team deal between the Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz. The trade of Westbrook comes after a locker room heated altercation between Lakers coach Darvin Ham and Russell Westbrook at halftime against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the game where Lebron James surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar to become the All-time leading scorer in the NBA.
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The three-way deal is finalised and the Lakers get former laker D’angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jared Vanderbilt. Utah Jazz got Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano- Anderson, Damian Jones and a first-round pick. The Minnesota Timberwolves got veteran guard Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and second-round round picks from Utah Jazz.
Los Angeles Lakers traded Patrick Beverley to Orlando Magic for backup Centre Mo Bamba.
The Lakers are the real winners of the trade
The Lakers are positioned 13th in the Western Conference. It is hard to say that the Lakers are title contenders at this point as they are battling for a play-in spot. The roster looks much better after the trade with the addition of D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Rui Hachimura and Mo Bamba.
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D’angelo Rusell is averaging 18 points, 3 boards and 6 assists this season shooting at 39.1% from the 3-point range. Malik Beasley is averaging 13.4 points, 3.6 boards and 1.7 assists. He is shooting at 35.9% from the 3- point range. Both Russell & Beasley fill the 3- point shooters void that the Lakers had throughout the season.
Jared Vanderbilt provides the much-needed help on the defensive end for the Lakers. Vanderbilt is a pretty good defender averaging 8.3 points, 8 rebounds and one steal per game. The Lakers traded Thomas Bryant which provides the space and playing time for Jarred Vanderbilt.
The Lakers could retain the same roster the next season adding a few more valuable players to win a championship.
D’angleo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt will make their debut for the Lakers this season on February 12th against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center.Â
Thomas Bryant requests a trade from the lakers and gets traded to Denver Nuggets
Bryant is on a veteran minimum contact with the Lakers. He fared well in the absence of Anthony Davis averaging 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds. Bryant was upset about getting less playing time since the return of Anthony Davis. He requested a trade from the Lakers front office and got traded to the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers in return get Davon Reed and a future 2nd round pick.
The Nuggets were in search of a backup centre and the addition of Thomas Bryant suits well for the Nuggets. Bryant might even not get the playing time on the court that he got in the Lakers as Nikola Jokic plays most of the game.
