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The Russell Westbrook experiment in Hollywood has not worked out for the LA Lakers. He is having the worst season of his career, and NBA rumors suggest that the Lakers are not interested in using the stretch provision on the former MVP. The Lakers are in danger of missing the playoffs and wasting a remarkable season of LeBron James.
Westbrook has a player option worth $47 million next season, and he's expected to opt in the offseason. If the Lakers use the stretch provision on Westbrook, he will have a cap hit of around $15.6 million for the next three seasons.
NBA Insider Jake Fischer told Marc Stein on SubStack that the Lakers have not explored the idea of using the stretch provision on Westbrook. Fischer added that the Lakers don't want dead money in their salary cap as they head to an uncertain future.
"We've definitely been talking about the wave and stretch idea for a couple weeks now, said Fischer. "I will say after I wrote that I was kind of told that that’s very unlikely to happen. I mean, anything could change here. But I think I don't think the Lakers intend to carry dead money on future salary because of Russell Westbrook," he added.
The last time the Lakers used the stretch provision was on Luol Deng, who has a cap hit of $4.9 million till this season.
It will be tough to have dead salary on the books next season with the large contracts of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It would be tough to add valuable pieces if the Lakers decide to rehaul their roster once again.
Can LA Lakers trade Russell Westbrook this offseason?
The LA Lakers tried to trade Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets at the deadline last month, but they did not want to add a first-round pick to make it happen. The Lakers' options are limited this offseason regarding Westbrook, who is expected to opt in and earn $47 million.
According to Jake Fischer on Marc Stein's Substack, the Rockets are the only interested party in the former MVP. They could offer John Wall in return but still want an additional draft pick with Westbrook. The Rockets are in rebuild mode and would not be competitive for a few years.
"They wanted at least a first-round pick to do it at the trade deadline, and the Lakers weren't willing to do that," said Fischer. "Is a pick swap now possible? Would they do it for two seconds? Is there some sort of multi-team deal that can be constructed? But beyond Houston and John Wall, I haven't heard of any team that has changed its appetite for taking Russell Westbrook in via trade," Fischer added.
The good news for the Lakers if Westbrook opts in next season is he'll be more tradeable despite his bloated deal.
His contract is going to be an expiring one and would be enticing for teams that want to have cap space in the summer of 2023. Some of the possible free agents that offseason include LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Khris Middleton, James Harden, Andrew Wiggins and D'Angelo Russell.
