Russell Westbrook is the gift that keeps on giving, just not for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Westbrook's short-lived tenure in Los Angeles went about as poorly as it could have gone. In fact, trading for Westbrook and his bloated contract essentially ended the Lakers' title window after winning the 2020 NBA Championship. All it took was one disappointing playoff series with an injured Anthony Davis for the Lakers' front office to completely overreact.
It's been quite some time since Westbrook donned the purple and gold yet his impact is still felt in Los Angeles, and not for the right reasons. On Tuesday, the pick the Lakers used to offload Westbrook all those years ago was used as a primary trade chip in a superstar trade. The Utah Jazz included it as one of three picks to acquire Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
Lakers' Russell Westbrook tax used as collateral in Jaren Jackson Jr. blockbuster
To refresh those who may have forgotten, or simply wiped the bad memories from their brain, the Lakers traded Westbrook, Damian Jones, Juan Toscano-Anderson and a top-4 projected 2027 first-round pick to the Jazz in a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles acquired D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt in the trade.
Russell's tenure in Los Angeles was just as choppy as Westbrook's. While the Lakers' ceiling was higher, Russell quickly found himself in the same trade rumors that Westbrook occupied. And while he helped LA win a playoff series, it didn't ultimately change the ceiling of the team.
Beasley flamed out in Los Angeles before reviving his career elsewhere. Vanderbilt is still on the roster but has been largely inconsequential compared to other league-average wings.
The pick protection is the one saving grace of the pick in case things go really poorly next season. The Lakers won't just get their own selection back if it lands in the top four, but the pick will simply convey into multiple second-round picks. It doesn't convey into a pick with fewer protections, which is usually how the protections operate.
It may not be a franchise-altering mistake, especially considering the protections. However, it is an impactful mistake considering how valuable the draft picks is, and how the Lakers essentially had to throw it away to get rid of Westbrook.
With the Lakers ultimately falling flat in the playoffs anyway, it's worth wondering if getting off Westbrook was even worth it in the long run. It's not like the Lakers did anything of note after getting rid of him, and he was on an expiring deal.
All the Lakers needed to do was stomach a few more months of Westbrook and pivot the following offseason. Instead, they made a not-so-great trade that raised the ceiling from first-round playoff exit to being completely outmatched and swept in the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets.
Sure, they made the Conference Finals so that makes it look better in hindsight, but the result would've been the same if they played Denver in round one (just look at the following year). Dumping Westbrook was never going to catapult the Lakers past prime Nikola Jokic.
Triple-J doesn't make sense for the Lakers this deadline. But with the team desperately needing some kind of juice, it would be nice to have that draft pick in the team's back pocket to make something happen around Luka Doncic.
But alas, Westbrook is once again burning the team.