Russell Westbrook

The Lakers can't leave me alone apparently. So, it's been agreed upon. The Lakers are bringing "Mr. Triple Double" back home with a trade to the Washington Wizards, sending away Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the 22nd pick in this year's draft. The trade is not official until August 6 when the NBA rings in the new league year.

Let's run straight to the positives, the Lakers finally form their coveted Big 3. They get Russell Westbrook to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They are very adamant in preserving LeBron as much as possible and it's obvious there's a need for someone who can score and take up some playmaking duties. And most of all, they can take over games is needed. Westbrook fits that mold on paper. He's notorious for being a stat padder, racking up triple doubles in the last 4 of 5 seasons. But, he certainly can take over a game when needed and is a significant upgrade as a third option. He'll make LeBron's life easier. This allows LeBron to play more off ball. He'll make AD's life easier. And he's certainly an upgrade over Dennis Schroeder by a mile.

Now that's that. The downside of this is this does not answer the Lakers' glaring need: spacing. It has been a problem last season and it was magnified in the first round against Phoenix. They are going to need a whole bunch of shooters to free up Westbrook, LBJ, and AD to do what they do best. You can't win in this modern NBA if you are not an above average three-point shooting team. And second of all, the packaging to land Westbrook here: Kyle Kuzma, KCP, Trezz, the 22nd pick. That's a lot to give up for a superstar. At least we can finally say good riddance to "Mr. Inconsistent" Kuzma. Now the Lakers don't have that much leverage to trade for more pieces. Outside of a potential sign-and-trade with Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker, there's not much to work around. Of course, details won't come out until the the moratorium is lifted. I'm hoping there's more to be desired when all the details come out. 

But overall, the Lakers did what they had to do. They covet superstars and when they see an opportunity to land one, they pounce on it. Kudos to Rob Pelinka and the front office for not wasting any time. Now, the real work begins. They gotta find players that'll fit in with this trio, especially players that can lock in, shoot, and defend. We're gonna hear about the spacing or lack thereof for the next few days. But the Lakers got they always wanted, a Big 3. We'll see how this goes. As I said, we're hoping to uncover some more details surrounding the trade, especially since we know what the Lakers gave up to land Russell Westbrook.