NBA exec on Russell Westbrook's trade value: Extremely negative but all it takes is one team

Michael Scotto: I asked a few NBA executives what they thought of Russell Westbrook’s trade value now. One NBA executive said, “Westbrook will still be viewed as a negative asset by most teams, but some teams might be willing to take on one bad year in order to shed three years of future money.” Another NBA executive said, “Right now, his trade value is extremely negative. All it takes, however, is one team to be desperate to add talent and have bad contracts to make it happen. The reality is that 95 percent of teams view that as a terrible contract right now. They’re not doing that unless they’re dumping a bunch of stuff.”
Source: Michael Scotto @ HoopsHype

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
Wednesday’s @LockedOnLakers podcast! Part 1 of our conversation w/@Dan Woike, in which we talk Westbrook, front office accountability and the Lakers coaching search. #FirstListen @LockedOnNetwork @LockedOnNBAPods
Subscribe. Rate. Enjoy. Thx!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why… – 1:46 PM Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2017, the @Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Russell Westbrook became the first player in NBA postseason history to record a 50-point triple-double:
51 PTS
10 REB
13 AST
Westbrook is still the only player to accomplish the feat. pic.twitter.com/HblQgxrpgU – 11:01 AM Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
Presti called Kevin Durant a “basketball god,” James Harden a “basketball genius” and Russell Westbrook a “basketball warrior.”
Presti: “We’re not competing with our past.” – 4:00 PM Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar
Sam Presti: “Skill is recognizing when you’ve been fortunate. I know we’ve been very fortunate.
The main thing is a Kevin Durant is a basketball god. James Harden is a basketball genius. Russell Westbrook is a basketball warrior.” – 4:00 PM Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
Presti said the night the Thunder traded Westbrook to Houston, Shai was in the practice gym working out. He had just arrived via trade. SGA didn’t even have Thunder gear on. – 3:50 PM Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
Sam Presti said the night they traded Russell Westbrook, he was writing his article for the Oklahoman he walked down the hallways, heard a ball bouncing “I walked into an office that had a window and I looked out and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was working out and he just got here.” – 3:50 PM Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
#Lakers Shooting Guard Austin Reaves tells @EvCoRadio & @Amin Elhassan how the Russell Westbrook-Frank Vogel relationship never impacted the team
#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/AwgVgB1m6F – 5:01 PM Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
Easter Sunday edition of This Week In Basketball has the latest from the Westbrook Trade Watch …
PLUS around-the-league notes on the Knicks channeling the Clippers, resurgent New Orleans, more attempts at pop culture coverage AND some fresh SNUBS talk: marcstein.substack.com/p/westbrook-wa… – 1:57 PM

More on this storyline

Yet it has since been conveyed to me that the Lakers have more boundaries than advertised when it comes to weighing Russell Westbrook trades. One league source said that injury histories would be a prime consideration in any deal, given how injuries have so routinely intruded upon the last two seasons for both 37-year-old LeBron James and 29-year-old Anthony Davis. -via marcstein.substack.com / April 17, 2022 Translation: The Lakers are unlikely to consent to a Charlotte trade headlined by Gordon Hayward — not after Hayward’s first two seasons in Charlotte have likewise been injury-filled. The Lakers surely understand that they need to factor in durability if they are taking on long-term money, which suggests that Terry Rozier would have to be the Southern California-bound headliner if the Hornets and Lakers eventually progress to serious trade talks. -via marcstein.substack.com / April 17, 2022 To other teams, Westbrook represented a one-year problem on the books as a way to erase long-term commitments to other players. Some scouts and executives around the league don’t view Westbrook as a useful player at this stage, especially with a nearly $50 million price tag. The Lakers could simply cut bait and release Westbrook, either using the stretch provision to move his salary cap hit over a handful of seasons or just bite the bullet and deal with it all at once (a far less likely scenario). -via Los Angeles Times / April 14, 2022